A Story of New York
by Razmo
Summary: AU Set after S2. Following Nationals, Finn and Rachel dont get back together; instead she heads off to New York for the summer with Kurt for the chance to improve her chances of getting accepted into NYADA. Follow as the story follows Rachel through S3 and her ambition to be a star. But, can she find the man of her dreams along the way? Small flashes of Finchel - Rachel / OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Rachel sighed heavily as she leans back in her seat. There had been so much that had happened to her in the last year; her and Finn had finally gotten together and spend the perfect summer together. Her junior year looked to be the best year of high school yet; but then all the problems had arisen between Finn and her and it had steadily gone downhill from there. The return of Jesse St. James had been the beginning of a horrendous last few week s of junior year. Jesse had stirred things up in the Glee club and his rivalry with Finn threatened to leave her with scarred memories of their prom, and then nationals had happened. A mixed year had culminated in their trip to New York in New Directions bid for a fist national show choir title. Rachel had felt confident about their chances of walking away with the title until she sung _that_ duet with Finn. God, she couldn't believe that they had kissed and ruined the glee clubs chances of winning nationals; especially after Kurt helped her to see that New York was her true love. She'd known it all along that Broadway was her calling; but Finn's presence in her life had caused her a dilemma. Rachel knew she loved him, but all that had happened between them over the last two years had led to the painful conversation they had shared only a week previous.

Rachel stirred and looked to her right as she felt Kurt's hand squeeze her arm gently. She smiled at him softly at his concerned expression.

"You okay Rachel?"

Rachel nodded slightly and looked out of the window of the airplane, her thoughts drifting back a week ago.

"_Hey Rach…I'm so glad you called me over." Finn said with his trademark half-smile that melted her heart. Forcing herself to smile, she nodded and beckoned him to enter her house; leading him to the couch. _

"_Finn" Rachel warned as he sat too close to her and placed his hand on the top of her leg. _

"_What? I thought you-" he began as she interrupted him_

"_I don't think we should get back together" She said watching his eyes go wide and his mouth drop at her words. _

"_What…Rach…why?" _

"_We aren't healthy together…"Rachel says, tears starting to roll down her cheeks at her words. "You'll always be…be my first love…and I'll always remember that but…"_

"_I love you Rach" Finn says in voice that cuts deep to her heart. He sounds so weak and vulnerable; desperate for her to believe him._

"_I know…"Rach says and grips his hand tightly "I love you too, but we can't…all that's happened has made me realize that we aren't going to work""_

"_I'm sorry about this year, I never meant to hurt you. I only got back together with Quinn because I was so confused and hurt about you and Puck…I"_

"_I know Finn" Rachel cut him off, she needed to stop him before he tried to convince her she was making the wrong decision. She had thought about it a lot of the previous two weeks since nationals and believed that she was coming to the right conclusion. "But that's the problem, You chose Quinn over me"_

"_What? No...No...I never"_

"_You chose her when you forgave her for cheating but scorned me for it" Rachel said releasing his hand. "We need to stop acting as if we can make it work, its not fair for me or you. It took someone else showing an interest in me for you to realize that I was the person you wanted. I owe it to myself…and you owe it to me as well…I should be someone's first choice. I'm too good for that and the man I deserve…I should be his first choice…he should choose me over everything else"_

"_Rach…"_

"_Please Finn" Rach said shaking her head and standing from the couch. "Don't call me that anymore…its too intimate"_

"_Rachel…" Finn stood and in a quick motion pressed his lips against hers and wrapped an arm around her waist. She responded at first before pulling back by pressing her hands against his chest gently, peering up at him with tears in both of their eyes. "Rachel…let me…try and prove to you this summer that I can be that man"_

_Rachel shook her head and him and stepped back. "I'm leaving"_

"_What?"_

"_I'm going to New York with Kurt for the summer. There's a summer camp for applicants to performing arts schools and I won't be back"_

"_That's it? You're just going to leave?"_

"_Yes…I've made by mind up and I think…I think the distance will do us good. You can realize the same thing that I have. " Rachel said leading him to the door "We can't be together Finn. Goodbye"_

…

The days after that had been painful, Rachel had stayed in her room for the rest of the day crying into her pillow and singing emotional ballads about moving on from the man she loves. After a couple of days; she had spoken to Kurt about it and he had understood her completely. If you would have told Rachel that her and Kurt would be such good friends at the start of the previous school year, she would have laughed in your face. He was a strong shoulder, and an amazing friend that reassured her she was making the right decision. She was glad in so many ways that he was here with her in New York for the summer, and even gladder that he was applying to go to college, at NYADA with her.

Which explains why her, along with her two dads were in a taxi making their way to a hotel that would be their home for around the next month. Rachel and Kurt were uncontrollably happy, giggling and screaming as they passed famous buildings in the city; only settling down when they pulled up outside the hotel a few blocks away from Broadway.

"Can you believe it Kurt" Rachel said as they walked arm in arm through the lobby. Her dads checking them in at the front desk.

"A whole month in New York? Doing nothing but singing and dancing so that we can get into the most prestigious performing arts schools in the country?" Kurt said and she grinned even wider, if that was possible, at his words.

"This summer is going to be amazing" Rachel said and Kurt beamed back at her before they both burst out giggling.

...

**A/N :**

**This is my first glee fanfiction. It's going to cover the summer before and the new directions senior year (season3). Not gonna lie to anybody but there will be flashes of Rachel + Finn throughout but this is definately not a Finchel fic. It involves an OC as her love interest and how it effects things at McKinley.**


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was shining through the golden curtains kissing Rachel's skin as her eyes fluttered open slowly, taking a moment to react to her surroundings before a smile crossed her face as she realised that she was in New York.

Sitting up suddenly in bed, Rachel looked around the hotel room taking in the beauty of the room. A room in New York, Rachel was actually back in New York and a massive grin covered her face as she hopped out of bed and ran around to kurt's shaking his shoulders to wake him up.

"Kurt!" Rachel said "Kurt! Wake up!"

Kurt groaned in response. "what? what is this hotel room on fire?"

"No!" Rachel exclaimed laughing, pulling back the sheets on his bed "No we're in New York come on get up!"

"Thats all?" Kurt replied, "We were in New York last night...and we will be tomorrow. Right now, I want to sleep!" And with the final part Kurt pulled the sheets back to cover himself, pulling them over his head.

"Come on Kurt!" Rachel sighed. As Kurt grumbled a response, her dads opened the door joining the two rooms they were staying in. Kurt simply groaned again

"Good Morning Future Broadway stars!" Hiram sung loudly, causing Rachel to jump up and hug her dads.

"Good morning Dad." Rachel replied, kissing Leroy on the cheek "And you too Daddy"

"Morning Mr Berry's" Kurt moaned from the bed, sitting up and wiping his eyes

"Hello Kurt" Hiram replied, "Come on you two, get dressed and we'll go to breakfast. Then we'll drop you two off at Julliard for the introductory meeting"

"Okay Dads, we'll be down in a little bit"

...

Around an hour later, Rachel and Kurt were walking towards the Julliard academy auditorium where the receptionist had informed them that the meeting was occurring. Rachel had a large grin on her face as she looked around the courtyard they were walking in, buildings that bled history and tradition. This only grew as the auditorium came into view. Julliard's Auditorium was a large imposing building, Rachel and Kurt grinned as they saw a crowd of students heading towards the doors.

"Wow...it's beautiful" Rachel gasped

"Yep" Kurt said, nudging her "Come on Lets go"

Rachel grinned back at him, and nodded eagerly. The two of them walked towards the building, arm in arm. As they entered through the glass doors, the two of them were greeted by a large number of students stood grouped around, lining up as they waited to be allowed entrance to the auditorium itself. Rachel and Kurt weaved their way through the students towards a table where they would sign in and be handed a welcome pack along with name badges.

Rachel and Kurt stood patiently next to each other in the two lines as they waited for the person in front to be done. Rachel found herself stood behind a guy with short curly black hair, and she could hear the end of the conversation that was going on in front of her;

"Welcome to Julliard " The female admissions spoke softly,

"Thanks, I'm sure I will" A deep but smooth voice that Rachel found calming to her ears came from in front as the boy with curly hair responded. After that he spun around, and paused in front of her and she could feel him taking in her appearance as she did the same with him.

Rachel smiled back at the handsome young guy who was smiling at her; He was a few inches taller than her, and he had tanned skin that she connected with his surname came from an Italian descent. Her eyes travelled down his body and she took in his appearance. He wore red short-sleeved shirt and cream pants. Much in the same way she saw on Puck and Sam at home, his sleeves were tight around his arms in a way that allowed to her to notice he obviously worked out and was athletic. His obvious athletiscim and beautiful smile made her find him incredibly attractive.

Rachel breathed out slowly as her eyes returned to his face and met his brown eyes again. He was gazing back at her with an intensity that made her heart beat. She opened her mouth to say "hello" when she heard a voice to her right,

"Yo James, you coming bud?" she followed the voice and a guy was waving a hand over to a group of three girls and four other guys.

"Nice to meet you" James whispered to her, before picking up his bag; slinging it over her shoulder and heading off to his friends. Rachel watched him walked away and she found herself wishing that she'd introduced herself.

"Miss?" The voice of the female admin snapped her out of her daydream and turned forwards taking a breath before replying

"Berry, Rachel Berry"

...

"So who was that cute guy you were talking to"

"What?" Rachel said blushing "I dont know what you're talking to"

"Oh come on" Kurt said rolling his eyes as the two of them took their seats in the auditorium. "You were checking him out"

"No I wasn't" Rachel replied embarrassed. Kurt gave her a look that silenced her protesting. "Okay...he was called James..."

"And he was cute" Kurt responded, raising an eyebrow at her. Rachel was about to reply when the lights dimmed and a woman with long blonde hair walked out onto the stage in the auditorium.

"Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen, Performers. Dancer, Musicians, Singers. Welcome to the NYADA and Julliard Academy Programme, My Name is Janet Williams and I am the Director of the Julliard theatre department." The Woman paused as there was a round of applause

"You are here this summer, because each and every one of you has the ambition to come to New York when you graduate and enrol at one of the two most prestigious academies for the Performing Arts. Over the next month, you will be involved with a number of our tutors who will work with you give you an idea of not only the challenges you will face but the first of many enjoyable lessons. I will now hand you over to the head of the programme, one of NYADA's finest who will be responsible for you over the next month, Arnold Stanson."

The woman on walked off the stage to applause. The man walked, and introduced himself

"Hello everyone" Rachel saw him take a breath, "You are all here because you are the finest performers that our country has to offer and you have chosen us to be the institution to help you hone this talent so that you can live your incredible ambitions." He then launched into a talk that lasted a further hour about what the summer programme would involve, and as he reached the final parts; Rachel turned to Kurt.

"This sounds amazing" Rachel whispered, Kurt nodded eagerly and pointed back to the stage.

"Now that is out of the way" He cleared his throat. "For the last five years, I have served as the Head of National Show choir competition's executive committee. I am aware that there are a number of students in the audience who participated in our National Championships right here in New York a couple of months ago"

As he finished the were a number of murmurings amongst the students and he raised a couple of hands to silence them

"In the spirit of NYADA; of recognizing the talent within our community. I'd like the chance for the representatives of their respective show choirs to stand so that we can introduce ourselves to one another"

He said, pulling out a piece of paper and began reading a number of names. He ran through three of the top ten teams including Singaz Wit Attitude, Vocal Extreme and Vocal Chords. Two more teams from outside the top ten were read before Rachel and Kurt turn came.

"From William McKinley High School, Ohio; this years 12th place finalists; The New Directions." Both of them stood up nervously when it was announced; waiting to see what the reaction would be considering the events that took place during Rachel and Finns duet; but there was a simple applause as that had come from the teams who had been announced before.

"We also have four students from this year's runners up. From Carmel High School, Ohio; Vocal Adrenaline." Three girls that Rachel and Kurt recognised from this year and the year before stood as well as a guy that they didn't; and there was a gentle applause as with the other students.

As they sat down again, there was a smile on the face of the as he reads the next name. "And last but not least, I'm glad to say that we have three representatives of this year's National Champions from Oregon: The Portland Scale Blazers"

Rachel and Kurt watched eagerly as five rows in front of them two guys and a girl stood and waved to the crowd. There was a whistle, and Rachel saw that it was from the guy from Vocal Adrenaline who then punched the arm of one of The Portland Scale Blazers playfully. Rachel followed his gaze and found that it landed on the curly haired guy who she had come face to face with earlier, shaking his head with a smirk on his face that made her heart beat just that little bit faster. After a few seconds they sat back down. Rachel felt Kurt touch her shoulder gently.

"Looks like your hunky friend is talented" Kurt teased. Rachel sighed exasperated.

"Kurt..."

"Thank you" The gentlemen on the stage announced

"A part of this programme is to teach you to embrace your fellow performers and to appreciate the talent that is on offer. As you can see we have some incredibly talented people here this summer. Now, You have all been split into groups for the first couple of weeks. There is a list in the foyer; and you should find the

Tutor that your group has been assigned. They will be wearing a name tag like yours. Thank you"

...

After they had sorted into their groups, they were left to get to know the people they'd be spending time with. Rachel found herself seperated from Kurt and she was glancing around the room she found herself in anxiously. A few of the students were chatting and getting to know one another. Rachel was in her own thoughts as she pondered about how great this summer was supposed to be, her thoughts however kept drifting to the fact that her friends were back in Ohio, and now Kurt wasn't here with her. She was the only one in the room who was silent; despite the talk of recognizing and mingling with the other talented people here at the programme, her mind couldn't help but dwell on the fact that many of these people would be competing against her for entrance to NYADA.

"Hi...is that seat taken?" Rachel heard an oddly familiar voice, and she looked up from glancing at her hands to the smiling face of the curly haired guy from earlier. _Oh god…what are the chances._

"Hey..." Rachel said nodding as he smiled back at her. She breathed out deeply, trying to focus on her dreams of New York instead to this incredibly handsome guy who was sat next to her. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before she noticed him turning in his seat to face her.

"So...I guess we're supposed to get to know each other" He said in his calm voice, eyes glinting at her as he smiled. She stared into his eyes and found herself bite her lip and nod

"So...I'm Rachel" she replied, smiling at him breathing out "Rachel Berry"

"You have a beautiful smile Rachel" James said truth in his eyes, and she blushed smiling at him. "And for the record, since we were never really officially introduced...I'm James, James Agrisino"

"Nice to meet you..." Rachel replied, before smiling and shrugging her shoulders softly "officially"

James grinned back at her, and then leaned forward in his chair "So...where are you from?"

"Lima, Ohio" Rachel said leaning forward herself, supporting her head on her hand as she placed her elbow on the table. "You?"

"Portland, Oregon" James replied, "What are you? NYADA or Julliard? Acting or Dancing?"

"NYADA. Musical Theatre" Rachel replied, smiling "It might sound stupid considering all these people here have the same dream, but I'm going to be on Broadway one day"

"Its not stupid" He responded, smiling "It's your dream. It doesn't matter what other people want or think. Its yours"

"Thats nice...I like that" Rachel grinned back at him, "What about you?"

"Julliard, Dramatic Arts. My dream is to be an actor" James replied, then licked his lips. "So...if you're a singer. You must be in a glee club?"

Rachel nodded, pursing her lips. She found herself for some reason wanting for him to work hard to find out about her, she liked that there a mystery between them. He seemed to sense she was toying with him because he smirked. "And you're from Ohio…so that means you could be from Carmel and Vocal Adrenaline but, since I know you're not from there"

"How do you know that?" Rachel said playfully, before mentally wondering to herself_ why are you acting like this?_

"You're too nice to be from Carmel" He said, and Rachel felt herself blush then she laughed at him "And the fact I know the people who are from Carmel and you definitely don't go there."

"I'm not one of them" Rachel said, "How do you know them?"

"We finished second behind them last year…and third the year before. I was friendly with a couple of them"

"This year you managed to beat them, and you're friendly with them?" Rachel asked.

"I guess you could say the major problem has been...removed. While Jesse was there it was hard to actually beat them" James replied, and shrugged. "He's talented but an incredible douche, who along with his friends seemed to decide that Showchoir was a thing where you couldn't interact with the others"

"I agree with you on the Jesse St. James matter." Rachel replied, frowning slightly "And I didn't know vocal adrenaline could be friendly. I'm part of the New Directions and they've terrorised us for the last couple of years."

"I'm sorry about that" James said sadly, and Rachel heart warmed

"Why do you say that"

"You seem like a really nice person" James replied,

"I'll have you know, I have been known to have a mean streak" Rachel said playfully, grinning at him

"I find it hard to think that you could be anything but that" James replied, his eyes showing the truth behind his words as she gazed into them. _he really does have beautiful eyes_

Rachel blushed, and there was a silence between them as both looked away from each other slightly embarrassed. After a couple of moments Rachel spoke "That's nice of you to say...but no, I'm not from Carmel, as I said I'm part of New Directions"

"Was this your first time at Nationals? I don't remember you from a couple of years ago"

"It was our first nationals and we finished Twelfth" Rachel replied a little disheartened.

"That's great for your first performance at Nationals" He said and nudged her shoulder softly. "I go to Portland and we won this year, but its taken us a few years to do that"

"Thanks…it's not like you guys though. Winning Nationals _is_ incredible. Congratulations" Rachel smiled widely and he looked down.

"Thanks"

The two of them talked for around another forty minutes, and the conversation turned to more personal matters as they were both eager to get to know the other. As they did, the more they talked Rachel found that they had a lot in common. While he wasn't a vegan, James' mother was and she owned a Vegan restaurant back home in Oregon, revealing that he split his eating between the two depending on when his father was at home or not. Like her father Leroy, his father was a businessmen and was on the board of a major firm that worked in a number of states across the country.

It turned out that both of them had a love of Broadway shows, him being a fan of West Side Story but also sharing her love for Funny Girl. Talent shows were another area where they found a common interest, Rachel laughing as he revealed he wanted to apply to go onto American X-factor to meet Simon Cowell.

"Hey come on. Its not that funny" He said laughing as well

"It really is, why would you want to meet him?"

"He's amazing. Do you know how many people he's responsible for making famous." James added, smirking at her "Plus, He's British and I _love _everything British. I'd love to live there some day"

Rachel giggled and sighed. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead" He said smiling at her

"Why do you want to be a performer?" Rachel said, "Most guys our age want to be sportstars or something manly like that"

"Are you implying singing isn't manly?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow before laughing and she couldn't help but join him. "Most of comes down to not wanting to be like my dad I guess"

Rachel looked at him, and could tell that he didn't have the easiest relationship with him, asking softly "Why?

"He's some hotshot businessman." He said, frowning "He works away a lot and was never really around when I was growing up. You know, He doesn't even enjoy his job, he does it because of the money and because its what he was told to do by his father. If I am going to be doing something in my life, I want it to be because I enjoy it and its what I want"

Rachel nodded, smiling at him.

"What about you?" James asked, "Aside from the fact you're an obvious Barbara Streisand in waiting."

She smiled at the compliment. "I've just always felt I didn't belong in Ohio. That my true life was to belong in Broadway and be a star. I've never really considered anything else as being even remotely possible"

"I have no doubt that you will be" He said staring into her eyes. Rachel tilted her head and stared back at him, and for some reason; despite the fact that she had only just met this guy, she believed him completely; there was truth in his words and in his eyes.

"Alright guys…that's it for today" The tutors voice came, snapping her out of staring at James. "We've only got a short amount of time today, but I hope you've had the chance to get to know some people in the group. Tomorrow, we'll be back at we'll start the work on a couple of workshop activities. So, thank you for coming and You're free to leave now"

Rachel collected her bag and made her way out walking side by side with James as they followed the rest of the group out of the room and back towards the auditorium. There was silence between them as they walked but as they headed towards the glass doors, he touched her arm gently.

"It was nice to meet and get to you know, Rachel" He said softly, smiling at her

"It was nice to meet you two" She replied, grinning at him. Watching him reach into his pocket, he pulled his phone out.

"I was wondering…if I" he paused for a moment. "Could I get your number? It'd be nice to talk to you some more"

Rachel smirked, and bit her lip to stop herself from grinning again. "Sure, I'd like that"

They swapped phones, and after putting their numbers into the others phones; handed them back. His hand lingered on hers for a split moment before he pulled away and smiled at her again.

"I'll see you tomorrow Rachel"

"Bye James" She replied and turned to walk away from him, seeing Kurt watching them covering his mouth with a hand.

…

"Looks like you had fun" Kurt added as they walked away from the auditorium where her dads would pick them up.

"What do you mean?"

"With your new friend" Kurt said, emphasising the last word and Rachel rolled her eyes at him

"I don't know what you mean. He's called James and all we were doing was getting to know one another"

"I'm sure" Kurt replied smirking

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He was definitely into you, Rachel. And I think you like him to"

"Kurt…I've only been officially done with Finn for a couple of weeks. I told him, and you that I am focusing on my dream of coming to New York. He's someone who I have to work with for our group, and possibly a friend. I definitely don't want a relationship, and I'm definitely not interested in anything with a guy I'm only going to see for a month this summer" Rachel said, and frowned at him.

"Alright, Alright. I understand, and I was only having a bit of fun with you" Kurt said, smiling and linking arms with her "But just for the record, he was watching you leave with a silly smile on his face after you gave him your number"

**A/N ; So Rachel and Kurt are at this summer programme. James is going to play a role in Rachel's life for the story, as a friend and possible love interest. There's chemistry and they have a lot in common; More of which will come up as we progress.**

**Next Chapter is going to be a time skip of a week or so and will be out at the weekend. We're going to meet some of James' glee club. As well as Kurt's friends in his group. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The next couple weeks of Rachel's life whipped past furiously. She had enjoyed the programmes that the NYADA and Julliard tutors were running immensely. They had worked on dance routines with choreographers that had worked on Broadway shows and music videos. Rachel had been delighted when she had the chance to learn some of the Funny Girl routines, and had dragged James with her.

One of the more surprising developments was that Rachel had made friends with a number of the kids who were from other Glee clubs around the country. Before, she would have been nervous of interacting with these members of other show choirs. Taking on board what James had said to her about how the people in other groups were friendly if you opened up and talked them. She'd form a friendship group with James and his friends as well as a couple of kids from Vocal Adrenaline along with some from New York and California.

The second week of the programme saw the kids who were from them separated from the applicants who weren't; as they worked on a group performance. The thirty or so of them had spent the week dancing and performing a variety of songs showcasing a large array of talent. For the end of the week, they had each been tasked with singing a solo in front of the group on the Friday of the week.

Rachel was looking forward to hearing James sing. Even though she'd heard the Portland Scale Blazers perform at nationals, her memories were cloud, and during the group performances she couldn't make out the individual voices. Matt and Lucy were dating and had agreed to perform a duet that showcased both of their voices. Rachel and Kurt had come to the agreement they were stronger than those of most of the other kids from New Directions. There were a number of male lead voices from other glee clubs that were astonishing; but if those had impressed them, James voice had blown them away.

He had sung a powerful rendition of "Save Me" by Queen. His vocal range was incredible, easily matching that she had heard from Jesse . He also had incredible control of his voice, never seeming to struggle with a note as what would happen with the other male leads. In his voice, James could sing strongly but still with a tenderness and calmness that was remarkably similar to his own personality.

Rachel worked hard to ensure when she sung strongly she kept a gentleness to it, but it seemed to come naturally to James. For her performance she had chosen to sing, "Walk Away" from Christina Aguilera. and was pleased to see James was looking at her with a smile on her face as she did. She wanted to impress him, and was glad that he was looking at her with adoration before he joined into the group dance and combined voices.

The three kids from Portland had become friends with her and Kurt quickly, sharing stories of their sectional and regional performances from the last couple of years. Matt and Lucy had been the two who were joining James at the summer camp, both having been put with Kurt's group for the first week and a half.

…

"_So, Rachel…" James said smiling, "These are my friends from Portland; Matt and Lucy" _

"_Nice to meet you two" Rachel said smiling, as she shook their hands _

"_Nice to meet this Rachel that has stolen our James away from us" Matt said playfully, earning him a roll of the eyes from James _

"_You all have amazing voices" Kurt had said _

"_Us? You should have heard yourselves" Lucy replied _

"_Totally, James was captivated when you sung earlier Rachel." Matt said seriously_

"_You were incredible" James said, a blush coming to his cheeks. Rachel smiled back at him, looking into his eyes and seeing that same truthfulness she saw whenever he complimented her. Her heart beat just that bit faster as she stared in his beautiful brown eyes._

…

Kurt had squealed and talked in excitement about how James had fallen in love with her later that night as they saw in her bed in the hotel room. Rachel had dismissed it, calling him silly and clarifying that her and James were just friends; but she couldn't help that lurch in her stomach or the beat of her heart as she thought of him. Rachel wasn't ready for anything serious with him or to admit it, but she knew that she had feelings for him.

In the weeks they'd been in New York; Rachel herself had spending a large amount of time with James, much to Kurt's continued joy about how he thought they seemed to be perfect for one another, and they had quickly become close friends.

As the second and third weeks progressed, the time they spent together increased outside of the summer camp schedule as well. Rachel shared a lot of her past with him, including Shelby and her relationships with Finn, Puck and Jesse. She was curious at first how he would react to the boyfriends she'd had; since she knew he had a soft spot for her. There was something in how kind he was, and the gentle tone he used when talking with her. The complete attention he gave her when she spoke, and the way that he gazed at her with adoration as she spoke told her that he genuinely cared for her. Rachel herself wasn't sure of her own feelings for him, but valued having someone like him to talk to; someone who would simply be a person who cared what she had to say. She was glad, and her heart warmed, when he embraced her tightly and warmly as she cried about how Finn had broken her heart; feeling her heart lift at his touch. There was just that something about him that made her feel better.

….

"_And I told Finn that we couldn't get back together" Rachel said with a soft voice, a tear leaking down her cheek. James was holding her hand softly. _

"_Why? I thought you said were in love with him?" James asked, his face full of concern for her._

"_I am…was…its hard to be sure" Rachel said sniffing, before looking at him "I just know that if we are together, he'll just hurt me again. He hurt me so badly when he chose her over me, and I was too hurt and in love to see it, but Finn and I are no good for each other"_

_James looked at her with a sad expression, rubbing her hand still, and Rachel couldn't help but break down into tears. She didn't see it, but his face creased as he tried to hold his own tears in before he shifted closer to her and pulled her into his arms; wrapping her in his embrace. She shifted and placed her head in the crook of his neck and felt comforted by his tender hold on her. she felt his breath on her neck as he whispered softly into her ear. _

"_I'm here for you. I won't let anything hurt you" _

…

In turn, James had shared details of his past with her. The difficulty of his relationship with his dad, and how they barely spoke as father and son had brought a tear to her eye. As she saw him trying to control his own, she had grasped his hand tightly and rubbed circles on the back of his hand with his thumbs as he continued the story. She was happy to hear that in recent years his dad had tried to make the effort to spend more time with him, but she felt sorry for him that James felt it was too little too late and he didn't think he'd ever have a real relationship with his dad. James told her of happier times with his mom and sister, Charlotte; a 21 year old who was studying to become a lawyer at Harvard. She couldn't help but smile as he spoke with pride of his sister, and Rachel could tell that he shared a close relationship with Charlie, as he called her affectionately.

He'd only ever had one real relationship with a girl in his life. It had ended around Christmas time, and they both had laughed at the coincidence of both their relationships ending at similar times. Her name had been Jess and he been with her since the previous valentines day. He told her how she'd been the first person outside of his family he told he loved, and he had been for a while. Ever since their junior year had started though, they had drifted away. He was under pressure as the lead of the Scale Blazers and she had stared to get feelings for a friend of hers. In the end the breakup had been much more amicable than hers and Finn's. Both he and Jess were still friends to this day, but he admitted that perhaps he would also care for her; just as she would for Finn. You always have feelings for your first love they had agreed.

….

Much to Rachel's joy, James was as in love with the fantasy of New York as she was. It turned out that James' dad had brought him to New York every year for the last few years for a couple of months a year; something James said was to try and make up for the large absence that was his father when he was a young boy.

Rachel had introduced her dads to James during the second week of the five they would be in New York, as they had waited in a coffee shop to pick her up when the programme had finished.

_**A Couple of Weeks earlier….**_

"_Dads…this is James. James Agrisino" Rachel had said nervously, as the young guy had shook each of her dads hands. He smiled nervously, and her dads were eyeing him curiously; she knew because they had found him laughing in a hotel room with their daughter a few days earlier._

"_Nice to meet you, sirs"_

"_Yes, nice to meet you son." LeRoy had announced and directed him to a seat in the coffee shop they were meeting in._

"_Rachel has told us a lot about you" Hiram had said, and Rachel had blushed. She'd gushed about what an amazing performer he was and how great his voice was. She'd also used a few embarrassing terms to describe how he looked that she wouldn't like repeated. James glanced at her and smirked as he turned back to her dads._

"_I've heard about you two, sirs" he said confidently and Rachel was happy to see how well he handled her dads "It's a pleasure"_

"_Flattery will get you everywhere, my boy" Hiram replied smiling "Tell us about yourself"_

"_Yeah sure" James said, taking a sip of his drink "Well, I'm half Italian. My mom's side of the family to be specific. She owns her own vegan restaurant back home in Oregon My father is a member of the board of a Finance company that works around the country"_

"_What are you ambitions?" LeRoy inquired,_

"_I'm applying to Julliard for their dramatic arts programme. I've always wanted to be an actor, ever since I can remember. Their programme is the best of its kind for theatre films. Everything really" James replied, and Rachel couldn't help but be proud of how well he was able to express himself in front of her admittedly rather scary parents. Finn had always had trouble dealing with them; neither of her dads had been fond of Finn and he seem to know that they didn't like him very much. Rachel had always wondered how her dads would be around a boy that they actually liked. Wait, why was she comparing James to Finn?_

"_That's impressive" Hiram replied "Are you in a glee club, James?"_

"_Yes Daddy he is" Rachel said "He's the male lead in the national champions"_

"_You are?" LeRoy asked, and Rachel smiled proudly at James; to which he winked at her. "Hopefully we will hear you sing then before this summer ends"_

"_I'd be honoured to sing in front of Rachel's fathers" James said smiling "She tells me you're a fan of broadway"_

_The two of her dads had then spent the next hour getting to know James and talking about Broadway and musicals in general. As they arrived back at their hotel room later that night, her dads couldn't stop gushing about the young man_

"_He is a wonderful young man, sweetie" Hiram had announced "You'd do well to tie him down before someone else steals him"_

"_Dad!" Rachel had gasped "Me and James are just friends_

"_What your dad is trying to say is that we think he is a perfect gentlemen who is what you deserve" Leroy said, touching her shoulder softly._

_..._

James had met her parents a few times more over the next couple of weeks, in their hotel for dinner and one the occasion his mum had flown out the previous week, to spend the last two weeks of the summer programme with her son, and taken them to a restaurant owned by a friend of hers. Rachel liked James' mom, she was like him in many regards in that she was very patient, and spoke softly. Rachel had a hard time imagining this women to get angry. James' mum loved Rachel as well, as he informed her the day after, and had sent her a number of new vegan-friendly recipes that she had implemented in her restaurant in Oregon.

One day he offered to show her around some of the city, something that Rachel in her love of everything New York was more than happy to accept. He showed her places that she'd never heard of before, as well as the more famous attractions the city had to offer. There was an awkward moment between them when an older couple had said the two of them looked very much in love as they sat huddled together on a bench in central park drinking coffee. They had finished having coffee and lunch at a small diner near Broadway called the Starlight Diner, a place heavily inspired by Broadway where the employees would break out in song and dance spontaneously throughout the day. Afterwards he had walked her back to her hotel.

"Thank you for today…it was amazing" Rachel said happily as they walked down the street towards the entrance to her hotel. Next to her James was wearing a happy smile.

"No problem, the pleasure was all mine" James replied, and she nudged him softly with her shoulder. He was always charming to her, his eyes twinkling as they walked close to one another. "I'm just glad you had fun"

"I always have fun with you" Rachel had said, blushing as the words left her mouth. Smirking he let the comment pass, something Rachel was grateful for as she didn't know why she'd said them.

"Are you going to the party on Wednesday night?" James asked, as they paused outside the doors. The final week of the camp was approaching and the programme administrators had organized a party in one of the NYADA student bars called Callbacks. There would some non-alcoholic cocktails on salee, but there would be karaoke and dancing with a live band.

"I think so" Rachel replied, biting her lip before continuing "I've heard a lot about Callbacks. Are you?"

"Of course" James said, still smiling "I was wondering…"

"What?" Rachel asked, gulping. James seemed to be nervous, as he paused, taking a deep breath.

"If you wanted to go with me" James replied, smiling again "You know, as friends….not like a date or anything"

"Oh" Rachel asked, her voice betraying the disappointment that she was feeling. She had come to really like James, and the bonding they had shared over their past had caused her feelings to grow. She knew that she cared about him.

"I mean…not that I wouldn't like to take you as my date, but I understand if you don't want to…we can…you know….if you want to" James added quickly, gazing into her eyes. "Be my ..."

"Yeah" Rachel added as his voice trailed off, before giggling softly as he laughed.

"Yeah?" James said, and he took a step towards her.

Rachel bit her lip nodding as she too took a step forward. She gazed up at him, noting that he seemed to be the perfect height for her. He was taller, but not by as much as Finn and Puck had been. Her forehead was level with his chin, and he tilted his head to gaze into her eyes; there was an uncertainty in them but also an excitement as he spoke again;

"I'd love to take you as my date" His words were soft and meaningful so that she would be the only one to remember them. Rachel's eyes darted to his lips and her heart beat quicker as she saw him start to move closer to her, before he paused. "I'm going to kiss you now...if thats okay"

She could feel his breath on her as she nodded. They were inches apart. She closed her eyes as their lips met, and when they did her heart screamed out in happiness. It was soft, tender and Rachel felt him smile against her lips as he kissed her again. One of his hands had made its way to her cheek and his thumb rubbed shapes on her cheek, as the other rested on her waist gently pulling her into him. Her hands rested on his arms holding him tightly as they kissed. They shared a few more chaste, loving kisses before he pulled back; resting his forehead against hers, biting his lip as he smiled widely. Rachel found herself grinning back at him and took a deep breath.

They remained that way for a few minutes, simply gazing into each other's eyes as his thumb caressed her cheek tenderly, before he kissed her forehead and stepped back a couple of steps.

"I'll see you tomorrow" James said, staring at her before adding in such a tender voice that her bottom lip quivered. "Rachel"

"Bye James" Rachel said smiling widely as he did the same at her. She watched him turn and walk away down the street. Letting out a deep breath, Rachel jumped on the spot squealing slightly before turning around and saw Kurt stood on the inside of the hotel grinning at her like a Cheshire cat.

….

"Are we serious not going to discuss this?" Kurt asked, as Rachel opened the door to their hotel room. Rachel had been keen not to talk about what had happened between her and James. She didn't want to get too excited about this yet, she wanted to take it slow and see where it went. Kurt on the other hand had been badgering her with questions the whole lift ride up.

"What? He asked me if I was going to the party tomorrow night. I said yes and then he left" Rachel replied, trying to silence him as she sat on the bed.

Kurts eyes widened and he laughed loudly. "Oh no you don't missy! I saw the _entire _thing. He kissed you!"

"Okay…" Rachel said sighing before grinning widely. "Oh Kurt, he's so amazing. He asked me if I wanted to go with him, as friends as first"

Kurt smiled back at her as she told the story, eager to get all the gossip

"Then I said "Oh" and he could tell I was disappointed and then he was so cute and said that if I wanted to be his date that would be great. I cut him off just saying "Yeah" and then he had the biggest, cutest grin on his face I've ever seen" Rachel said, and then Kurt squealed and hugged her.

"Oh Rachel, I'm so happy for you" Kurt said and then his voice went soft but serious. "Does this mean you're over what happened between you and Finn?"

"I think so" Rachel replied, her smile fading. She hadn't thought of Finn in the two weeks since she had told James about him. "Funny enough, I think telling James was what helped me to realise I don't need to worry about him anymore. I'm not sure what's going to happen from this point…I've never really had anyone treat me like James does…I just know that I like him"

"Well, anyone with eyes can see that he cares about you" Kurt said solidly, "Just ask Matt, his own best friend was telling me James thinks you're special"

Rachel grinned back at him, feeling butterflies in his stomach. Something then occurred to her and her smile dropped.

"What is it?" Kurt asked concerned.

"I just realised in a week we're never going to see each other again" Rachel said, and took a deep breath to control herself. She'd been so happy spending time with James the last week that it hadn't crossed her mind as she was getting closer to him, they would be going their separate ways. He'd be going back to Oregon and her to Ohio. She'd just end up with her heart broken if anything further did happen.

"Oh…" Kurt said softly, and Rachel knew it had just occurred to him as well.

"I'm so stupid…I can't let myself get attached to him. Its only going to end badly" Rachel said putting her head into her pillow.

"Hey…you don't know that" Kurt said and placed a hand softly on her back.

"I do…and so do you" Rachel said sitting back up on the edge of the bed

"Look, Rachel. He likes you, and judging by what I saw before; you like him" Kurt said softly, and Rachel nodded, a smile growing on her lips as she thought back to their kiss. "Just enjoy the time you have left together. Who knows what will happen. There's no reason you two can't keep in contact"

"A long distance relationship…" Rachel said thoughtfully.

"But don't worry about that now…what you should be worrying about is telling me how good of a kisser he is!" Kurt said and tickled her causing Rachel to squeal and laugh.

"Oh Kurt…he's amazing…the way he kissed me…it was so tender and affectionate." Rachel said, blushing and biting her lip "It felt…right"

Kurt giggled and smiled at her "I assume by that you're planning on kissing him again?"

Rachel was about to reply when the door opened to the room her dads shared.

"Kissing who?" Hiram asked with a raised eyebrow. LeRoy had a smile on his face as they walked in and stood in front of the bed Kurt and Rachel were sat on

"Hi Dad…Daddy" Rachel said embarrassed.

"James" Kurt said, and her dads turned to look at each other and then looked back at her smiling.

"James, that was the charming young man you introduced us to the other week?" Hiram asked as they sat on either side of Kurt and Rachel.

"Yes…" Rachel said, eyeing her dads carefully. She found them to be acting suspicious since they had come back from dinner and found her, James and Kurt watching a video of this years National's championships in their room. James and her had been sat close next to each other and as Kurt had informed her, looked very much like a couple as he teased her about _that _kiss with Finn. She'd looked at him in horror first, before she realized that she Finn was far from her thoughts and instead just laughed along with him. Her talk with James had cleared the air of whatever feelings she still had Finn.

"So you've finally accepted that you two would be perfect for each other?" Hiram said teasingly, with a smirk on his face

"Dad…" Rachel sighed exasperated, "All we did is agree to go to the party tomorrow night with one another"

"And you kissed him" Kurt coughed into his hand, causing her dads to laugh and jump up off the bed

"Well, we better get on the phone to Barbara and see if she is able to sing at your wedding" Hiram said cheerfully as he walked into their room

"Are you happy now?" Rachel said frowning at Kurt, who laughed back at her. Rachel let a smile cross her lips at the thought of her dads approving of James. She didn't know what was going to happen, whether they would even be an actual thing; after all they were saying goodbye in a little over a week. But Rachel knew she was excited at the prospect.

….

**A/N :**

**So Rachel and James have feelings for one another. Whats going to happen between them? **

**The next chapter is the party I mentioned. We're going to meet Matt properly (A different Matt to glee s1 matt I want to point out!) and Rachel and James are going to sing together for the first time.**

…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The Next day, Rachel and Kurt had eaten breakfast with her Dads as they had done every day for the last few weeks. After that they had gotten into a cab which had dropped them off at NYADA where this week's activities were taking place. The two colleges had split the month, with Julliard hosting the first half of the programme while NYADA held the final two weeks' worth of seminars and activities. As they headed into the main auditorium building, Rachel looked to see if she could see where James was. She had put more effort into her appearance in recent weeks, wearing more "pretty girl clothes" as she referred to them as, as a result of her confidence growing at the summer programme. She had found herself eager look nice for herself; but also secretly to impress James. She had worn a red poker dot dress with a blue Jean jacket with cream knee height boots. She'd bought the outfit when she'd gone shopping with Kurt a few weeks ago and was on her favourite items in her wardrobe now.

"If you're looking for James he's over there with Matt, Lucy and a few of the Vocal Adrenaline bunch" Kurt said next to her, and Rachel turned quickly following his outstretched arm to the far side of the room.

James was stood chatting with a group of eight people. Rachel felt a smile cross her face as she saw him.

_As usual looking handsome. _Rachel thought to herself as he laughed loudly grinning back at Matt. He was wearing a yellow hooded jacket, a white t-shirt visible underneath and black slim jeans. He had his bag pack slung over one shoulder and was wearing a huge smile as he talked the blonde girl stood next to Matt leaning against the wall opposite James who stood next to Lucy.

Rachel felt a feeling of jealousy at the fact that James was obviously enjoying talking to Stacey, the blonde vocal adrenaline member, and as she laughed at his comment, Rachel turned to Kurt and spoke firmly "Come on" as she led him by the hand over to them.

As they approached, Kurt whispered to her to relax, and she nodded at him before continuing her walk over at a slower pace. _What am I getting jealous about_

As they approached Rachel could hear the last few bits of their conversation.

"I told you, it's going to be so great having you" Stacey said smiling

"Not for us, it won't" Matt replied

"Dude come on, it'll be fine" James said and laughed at Matt's expression

"When do you" Lucy asked but was cut off as Rachel appeared as his side. "Hi Rachel Hi Kurt"

"Hey Guys" Rachel said, before turning to look at James who was staring at her with a mesmerised look in his eyes. She felt herself blushing under his gaze as he raised his arm and she instinctively hugged him; feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders. He leant down and kissed her cheek, before whispering in her ear.

"God Rachel, you look gorgeous" Rachel shivered at his breath on her ear and as he pulled away she smiled at him before leaning into him, her arm snaking around his back and she was glad to see that he didn't move to shift his arm from her shoulder. After a few moments she turned to the group, embarrassed to see that the others were looking at them with amused looks on their faces.

"So .what were you guys talking about" Kurt said, hiding his grin at the two them stood so close to each other and seemingly completely comfortable with it.

"Umm" Matt said looking at James, which caused Kurt to frown. Rachel on the other hand was busy whispering a thank you into James' ear at his comment.

"We were just talking about the party tonight" Lucy replied, as Matt looked at James who coughed. "I take it you'll be joining us"

Rachel bit her lip and half smiled before Matt spoke with a smirk "James said the other day he wanted to ask you, but apparently he finally found the confidence"

"Yeah, it's going to be so great to finally see you sing something that isn't broad way" James teased and squeezed her shoulder playfully. Rachel rolled her eyes at him and James smirked.

"You're all going?" Kurt asked.

There was a round of nods and confirmations. Stacey replied vocally "Yeah, we even convinced James to ditch these two and sing with the guys from Vocal Adrenaline"

"Hey, I said I'd think about it" James said, raising an eyebrow at her

"It'll be good practise" Kellie said, who was another girl from VA who had red hair tied in a pigtail

"For what?" Rachel asked confused, looking at her. She didn't see James bite his lip as he looked at Kellie with wide eyes.

"You know, for this year. Winning Nationals puts so much expectation on you to do it again" Kellie replied, "You guys have to sing as well. It's going to be great"

"I'm going to, I'm not sure what yet but", Kurt replied

"Wait, let me guess. Something that will probably be something deeply moving. Naturally, its something that was obviously written for you as well, Right Kurt?" Matt said, patting Kurt on the back, causing them all to laugh. Him and Matt had become friends and the teasing went both ways.

"Careful there Matt, you don't know when it'll come back to bite you on the ass" James smirked. He then looked at Rachel and she met his gaze instantly. "What about you munchkin?"

Rachel blushed at the nickname, he'd used it a few times over the last few weeks to tease her about her height. There was a few laughs from the others as she nudged him in the shoulder, causing him to laugh as well before rubbing her shoulder with the hand that had remained around her.

"I think I will. I love any opportunity to sing in public, you should know that by now" Rachel replied

"That is true...you're like Tinkerbell" He responded, biting his lip. "Height wise for sure"

"Well...I was going to ask you to sing with me...but if you're going to be like that..." She felt happy when his eyebrows rose, glad that she could have some fun with him. There was something about him that made her feel completely at ease and that was coming across in her demeanour around James.

"You were?" James asked softly, and Rachel nodded at him, he smiled "I'd love to"

"I'll have to consider now..." Rachel replied giggling, "I take comments about my height very seriously"

"I'm sorry, Rachel" James said smirking, Rachel smiled back at him "Will you let me have the honour of singing with you?"

"Mhmmm...maybe" Rachel murmured, biting her lip as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow "Alright, but only because I like you"

James laughed back at her, and a few of the others joined in as well. Rachel could see he was about to respond when Matt interrupted.

"Okay, im going" Matt said, standing up from the wall and picking his bag up. Gesturing to them two of them he continued "If this is what it's going to be like between you two now I'm going to kill myself"

Rachel blushed, and James laughed at him before shaking his head and replying. "Sorry Dude. But hey its time to go anyway"

The group headed off towards where the showchoir kids would be working together again with Cassandra July, the dance instructor at NYADA. Rachel and James hung back a moment neither of them speaking, as she was unsure how exactly to proceed.

"You do look beautiful" James said softly to break the silence. Rachel looked up at and smiled

"Thank you" Rachel said and then slipped her hand into his, grinning as he looked down at their linked hands and smiled. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, Lets" James replied before they walked off towards the auditorium hand in hand.

...

The rest of the Tuesday and the day after were easily the best days Rachel had enjoyed in New York. Her and James would have spent the majority of the day regardless of what happened; but by being able to sit and hold his hand; something she did at every opportunity since she discovered how soft they were; as they listened to the dance instructor run through the class. The glances he would give her, the wide smile he wore on his face every time he looked at her made Rachel feel a million dollars. They'd spent the last few weeks getting to know each other, and she couldn't help but develop feelings for him. For around a week, Rachel knew that things between her and James had gone past being friends. That same thought led to an easy peace between them; something that didn't have to be spoken. Both just happy to be in close proximity to one another, sitting together, enjoying the presence of the person they cared for. Rachel knew that eventually they would have to talk about what it meant, but for now she was just so happy and at peace.

After Wednesday's activities, the two found themselves sitting on the steps outside the auditorium; her in between his legs resting her head against his chest as his hands were placed softly on her shoulders; his fingers massaging circles Rachel couldn't help but be relaxed.

"Hey...Rachel?" James said softly, and she leant her head back further to look up at him; seeing that handsome smile that he wore every time he looked at her.

"Hmm?" Closing her eyes and murmuring back as he continued his actions.

"Are we..." He said nervously, as she opened her eyes again to see a strange look on his face

"What's wrong?"

"I'm confused...are we...together?" James responded, pausing his movement as she raised an eyebrow at him

"You think I let anybody hold my hand or be this close to me?" Rachel said, as he chuckled and moved from behind her to sit next to her on the lower step; taking her hands in his.

"No...but we haven't talked about what that kiss meant"

"Okay lets talk" Rachel said smiling

"I like you" James said softly, and Rachel couldn't help but giggle at him. His eyebrows raised in surprise and she rubbed the back of his hand

"I think I knew that already" Rachel laughed, James smirking at her, moving closer to him "You're didn't do a very good job of hiding it"

They both laughed before, he looked deeply into her eyes. "I care about you, Rachel. I…I want you to be my girlfriend" biting his lip as he finished, staring at her giving him his full attention as he waited for her to respond.

Rachel took a moment to reply, her heart having beaten faster when he spoke. After half a minute or so, she replied "I want to be your girlfriend"

Her heart warmed as she said the words, seeing the gigantic grin that had spread across his face. He nodded happily then he moved closer to her and kissed her, raising a hand to cup her cheek as he had done the night before. Rachel found herself smiling against his lips as they shared tender kisses for several minutes. There was something that felt so right about them doing what they were doing. Rachel felt a warm jolt as she felt his tongue run softly across her bottom lip, and she moaned softly as she opened her mouth and felt his tongue touch hers. She raised an arm around his neck and pulled his head closer intending to deepen the kiss, completely at ease with being intimate with him, when they were interrupted by a coughing in front of them. James rested his forehead against hers and grinned at her again as her eyes darted to see Kurt stood there arms folded.

"You are my least favourite" James remarked, and Rachel giggled at him as moved his head away only to put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Rachel happily lent into his side, still clasping his hand tightly in hers.

"Sorry to interrupt the obviously important conversation you two were having" Kurt said sarcastically, "But we have a party to prepare for"

James frowned and looked between the two of them. "Do you hear that Rachel, he thinks what we were just doing isn't important. I for one disagree"

"Me too" Rachel giggled back and titled her head to kiss the underneath of his jaw

"For god sake...Come on lover boy...time to let me take care of Rachel" Kurt said, grabbing her hand and attempting to pull her up; James however didn't release his hold of her causing all three of them to laugh.

"I better go...I'll see you tonight?" Rachel said as she and James both stood. James nodded and Rachel went into his arms, a warm embrace as he kissed near her ear.

"You bet" James said softly, and as they pulled away he kissed her once on the lips. "Want me to come to your hotel and meet you guys?"

"No, we'll meet you there" Kurt says and pulled Rachel away towards their cab; Rachel smiled, and glanced over her shoulder waving as James blew her a kiss.

...

"Having fun?" Kurt teased as sat down in the back of the cab, before telling the driver the address.

"Yeah" Rachel sighed happily, "James is so great. He told me he cares about me, and wanted me to be his girlfriend"

"So you're official?" Kurt asked, smiling

Rachel nodded happily, biting her lip.

"I'm happy for you two" Kurt said, and then frowned for a second "Have you spoke about what's going to happen after this week?"

"No" Rachel shook her head "But I care about him, and cares about me. We can make it work"

"Even though you'll be in Ohio and he'll be in Oregon?" Kurt said softly "That's a long way away, and I don't want you to get too excited. Things could change while you're back in Ohio"

"Aren't you happy for me?" Rachel said frowning at him, a hint of anger in her voice "It doesn't matter how far away we are, I care about him. I'm not getting back together with Finn no matter what you say"

"Wow…Rachel, that's not what I mean" Kurt replied "I don't want you to get back with Finn, I'm glad you've realised you need someone who will put you before anything else. But, I just want you to get hurt; especially considering you've only known James for a month"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you" Rachel replied as they got out of the cab around ten minutes at their hotel. She linked her arm with his; "I know that things have gone quickly with us, but we've spent every day of the last few weeks together. I know everything about him and so does he about me"

"I know" Kurt said and nudged her shoulder softly, "he does care about you, but be careful; I don't want to see you get hurt. I'm just looking out for my best friend"

"Thank you" Rachel said as they got into the lift "Can we please talk about something happier now? I'm happy and let's get ready for tonight"

"Of course"

…

A couple of hours later, Kurt and Rachel were walking towards Callbacks laughing and chatting happily. Kurt was wearing a dressy red shirt and black suit pants. Rachel had dressed in a backless white dress that flowed to just below her knees. She also wore a small black jacket that covered her shoulders. She wore high heel shoes. Both of them had agreed that she looked stunning and James would have a hard time focusing on anything else that night.

As they walked towards the building, they saw the bright sign outside and a few of the summer programme kids were stood chatting outside getting some air. They waved to Kurt and Rachel. They pushed the door of the club and then they were engulfed by the sound of a dance track. The place absolutely packed, some of the students were dancing on a small dance floor in the corner near the band. More people were stood around talking to one another. Rachel bit her lip, standing on her tiptoes to try to see where James was. Kurt was likewise looking around.

"Do you see them?" Kurt asked,

"No" Rachel replied, shaking her head. "Where are they?"

"Let's get a drink" Kurt said and they walked over to the bar. When they got there, they ordered some drinks. Rachel ordered a lemonade drink. They got their drinks when Matt came up behind them; and squeezed her shoulders.

"Hey guys" Matt said, releasing her and ordering a drink.

"Hey Matt" Rachel said smiling,

"You look nice" He said to Kurt, then winked at her "You too Kurt"

"How long have you been here?" Kurt replied,

"About an hour or so. Oh thanks" Matt said, getting his drink from the bar.

"Is James here?" Rachel asked softly, then took a drink.

"Yeah, of course" Matt said smirking, "He's over the far side of the band with Jake, Mike and some guys from Vocal Adrenaline"

"Thanks" Rachel said, and walked off to find him. She pushed her way through the crowd with Kurt and Matt behind her. She glanced around after working past the band who were taking a break while some dance music played over the stereo. He was stood laughing and joking with some of their friends. She took a short breath taking in his appearance. His hair had grown longer over the past few weeks, it had become fluffier as the curls lost their tightness. There was a tousled, messy look to his hair that Rachel found was incredibly cute. He was wearing a short-sleeved black shirt that once again showed of his muscular arms.

He punched Jake's arm playfully as they both laughed. A moment later, she saw him gesture to James with his head and he turned around wearing a huge smile on his face. He put his drink down on a table and walked towards her. She walked towards him, and he paused in front of her taking her hands in his. She looked up and grinned as she saw him wide eyed and looking at her. After a moment he found his voice

"Wow" James breathed out, smiling at her. "You look…wow"

"I like wow?" Rachel teased, blushing.

"Shut up" He said softly, leaning and kissing her gently on the lips. They shared chaste kisses for a few seconds before pulling back and leaning their foreheads against one another.

"Come on" He said linking her fingers with hers and led her back over to the group he was with before.

"You look hot" Jake remarked smiling smirking at James. Rachel blushed furiously and mouthed a thank you as James looked like he was going to kill him. she rubbed his back softly, and he looked at her winked.

"Wow, not beating me up" Jake smirked

"Maybe next time" James replied, leaning over and nuzzled the side Rachel's head, kissing her gently

"So what's the deal with the band?" Kurt asked, joining them.

"They're taking a quick break" James replied; "But you just go up and ask them to sing. Pretty simple really"

"Have you performed yet?" Rachel asked him, leaning into his side.

"No" James nodded his head, his arm around her waist, his fingers rubbing her side softly. "I will do later, I just want to spend some time with you for a bit"

An hour later and the group had found a booth to sit in while they listened the band playing songs for people to sing along to. Rachel was sat next to James, holding his hand with one and tracing shapes on the back of his hand with the other, as he spoke to Matt and Jake about football. On the other side of her, Kurt was talking to Lucy and a girl called Kate from a California show choir about a fashion designer. Rachel was lost in her thoughts, once again happy at the group of friends she had made while in New York; hopeful that she would keep in touch with many of them. In fact, she wondered that if she would be with some of them next year when she came to New York to study for real. Rachel sighed and lifted his arm over her shoulder, snuggling into James' side, which caused him to look at her and smile.

"You having fun?" He asked softly, abandoning his conversation; Matt and Jake continuing without him.

"Yeah" Rachel replied, nodding and kissing his shoulder. He smiled at her, and the two of them watched the pair of girls singing a Kelly Clarkson song. A few more kids got up to perform, and after a while; two guys did a hilarious version of "Barbie Girl". James laughed and kissed the top of her head. Looking up at him, Rachel leaned and kissed him on the lips, cradling his hand against her chest.

"Okay...James" Matt said, Rachel pulled back biting her lip and saw he was looking at them with a smirk "Before you turn into a complete pussy; Me you and Jake are singing"

"Dude, you and Lucy do this, like, all the time" James frowned, before Jake grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up

"Yeah, but not when we've got some singing to do. Move your ass" Matt replied, causing the group to laugh. James kissed Rachel one more time whispering "Be right back" before he followed them towards the band. Rachel licked her bottom lip before turning to talk to Kurt, Lucy and Kate

"You two really are cute together" Kate remarked smiling. Rachel couldn't help but grin

"He hasn't been this happy in a long time" Lucy said

"Do you know what they are singing?" Rachel asked, craning her neck to look at the three boys who were talking to the band.

"Could be anything" Kurt said, sipping his drink.

...

The Music started with the three of them singing stood behind microphones. Matt echoing the other twos words.

_No Apology (No Apology)_  
_We will not back down (No Apology)_  
_We are not afraid (No Apology)_  
_Not a drop of doubt_

James sings solo for the verse. His voice with a slight rasp to it. The other two slowly join in as the verse goes on.

_Let's start this from the happy ending_  
_Just another white trash train-track kid_  
_Fighting for survival_  
_Trying not to do like his daddy did_  
_Double down the devil at three-card Monte_  
_No apology, he just knew when to quit_  
_Push your luck, say your prayers_  
_Make believe you don't care_  
_Take a chance, sometimes it's all you need_

As the song goes into the chorus, the three of them jump up and down on the stage as a large amount of people in the bar do the same. Rachel and Kurt along with the girls are dancing some simple, silly dance moves while they are sat in the booth laughing and giggling as they listen.

_(No Apology)_  
_No Apology (No Apology)_  
_We will not back down (No Apology)_  
_We are not afraid (No Apology)_  
_Not a drop of doubt (No Apology)_  
_Hand in hand across this land_  
_Our voices shouting out_  
_No Apologies_  
_No Apologies_

_You wanna start a personal revolution_  
_Think you living somebody else's life_  
_You can lie about retribution_  
_But there ain't no fire in your lover's eyes_  
_Seems like everybody's selling you dreams 'round here_  
_But no one's buying and it's closing time_

James sings with the other two echoing his words. they sing the last line all together before going into the chours.  
_Light the fuse, make your breaks, there's no time left to waste_  
_Baby just like freedom, nothin's free_

_(No Apology)_  
_No Apology (No Apology)_  
_We will not back down (No Apology)_  
_We are not afraid (No Apology)_  
_Not a drop of doubt (No Apology)_  
_Hand in hand across this land_  
_Our voices shouting out_  
_No Apologies_

_You wanna start a personal revolution_  
_What else you gotta do tonight_

_(No Apology)_  
_No Apology (No Apology)_  
_We will not back down (No Apology)_  
_We are not afraid (No Apology)_  
_Not a drop of doubt (No Apology)_  
_Hand in hand across this land_  
_Our voices shouting out_  
_No Apologies_  
_(No Apology)_  
_No Apology_  
_(No Apology)_  
_No Apology_  
_Hand in hand across this land_  
_Our voices shouting out_  
_No Apologies_

_(_**No Apologies - Bon Jovi performed by James, Jake and Matt) **

...

A few minutes later, the boys sat back down in the booth. Rachel pulled James towards her as he sat down and kissed him several times before pulling back and looking at him biting her lip.

"That was hot" She whispered, causing James to smirk and kiss her again.

"Glad you liked it" He chuckled and sat down, Wrapping his arm around her shoulder again.

They sat around for a further half an hour, listening to a few more people sing before Rachel pulled James and Kurt up to dance as a couple of people from Vocal Adrenaline sung footloose. For the song, Rachel enjoyed dancing linking her fingers with James as they goofed around to the music; not doing any real moves simply having fun to the music.

"You're amazing" James laughed, kissing her as the music finished. Rachel smiled against his lips linking her arms around his neck. After a few moments; Kurt pulled her away towards the stage, Rachel peeking over her shoulder and blowing James a kiss as they walked to the stage.

"You two are like a pair of lovesick rabbits" Kurt laughed as they got to the band. They spent a few minutes debating what to sing while a couple of girls sung a Katy Perry song. Rachel flicked through the lists of songs; she grinned massively as they came across "Come So Far" from the Hairspray movie soundtrack. She showed Kurt and they both laughed again.

"Go get James and Matt, we need them for it"

After running and dragging them over to sing with them; something they were more than happy to oblige to. As they told the band what song.

"I love this side of you" James muttered in her ear; and Rachel couldn't but grin back, knowing that the fact she was completely at ease in his and their other friends company. The Rachel last year wouldn't have picked such a fun song; instead she would have picked a ballad. She was having fun tonight and that spilling out of every pore of her body. She was radiant. She winked at him as the music started.

...

Kurt started singing the first verse of the song. Rachel dancing on the spot behind her mic; while James next to her laughed at the reaction of some of the people on the dance floor. Most people had massive smiles on their faces; including his friends who were laughing hard.

_Hey old friend, let's look back_  
_On the crazy clothes we wore_  
_Ain't it fun to look back_  
_And to see it's all been done before_

James took over the singing, dragging his hand across his face; causing Rachel to laugh next to him.

_All those nights together_  
_Are a special memory_

Rachel sung, nudging Kurt's shoulder at the last few words.

_And I can't wait for tomorrow_  
_Just as long as you're_  
_dancing next to me_

Kurt and Rachel singing. James and Matt providing backup harmonies

_Cause it's so clear (oooh)_  
_Every year_  
_We get stronger_  
_What's gone is gone_  
_The past is the past_  
_Turn the radio up_  
_And then hit the gas_

_Cause . . ._  
_I know we've Come So Far_  
_But we've Got So Far To Go_  
_I know the road seems long_  
_But it won't be long 'till it's time to go_

_So, most days we'll take it fast_  
_And some nights lets take it slow_  
_I know we've Come So Far_  
_But baby_  
_We've Got So Far To Go_

James sings, taking his mic of the stand and walking to stand back to back with Matt. Rachel and Kurt both giggling as they sing backup for the verse. Rachel loved the performer that came out of him.

_Hey old friend, together_  
_Side by side and year by year_  
_The road was filled with twists_  
_and turns_  
_Oh but that's the road that_  
_got us here_

_(Kurt and Rachel sing)_

_Let's move past the bad times_  
_But before those memories fade_  
_Let's forgive but not forget_  
_And learn from the mistakes we made_

_Cause it's so clear_  
_Every year_  
_We get stronger (James and Matt flexed their arms as they joined in singing with them)_  
_So don't give up_  
_Don't say when_  
_And just get back on the road again_

_Cause . . ._  
_I know we've Come So Far_  
_But we've Got So Far To Go_  
_I know the road seems long_  
_But it won't be long till it's_  
_time to go_

_So, most days we'll take it fast_  
_And some nights lets take it slow_  
_I know we've Come So Far_  
_Oh but baby, baby_  
_We've Got So Far To Go_

_Hey old friend come along for the ride_  
_There's plenty of room so jump inside_  
_The highway's rocky every now and then_  
_But it so much better than_  
_where I've been_

_Just keep movin', at your own speed_  
_Your heart is all the compass_  
_you'll ever need_  
_Let's keep cruisin' the road we're on_  
_'Cause the rear view mirror only shows_  
_what's gone, gone, gone_

_Cause it's so clear_  
_Every year_  
_We get stronger_  
_So shine that light_  
_Take my hand_  
_And let's dance into tomorrow land_

_Cause . . ._  
_I know we've Come So Far_  
_But we've Got So Far To Go_  
_I know the road seems long_  
_But it won't be long till it's_  
_time to go_

_So, most days we'll take it fast_  
_And some nights lets take it slow_  
_I know we've Come So Far_  
_Oh but baby, baby_  
_We've Got So Far To Go_

...

The four of them sat back down laughing in the booth. Lucy, Kate and Jake looked at them as if they were a bunch of mental patients.

"You guys are mental"

"That was so much fun" James laughed, Rachel giggled and took his hand in hers again.

"You were really great" She whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek as she pulled away. He smirked back at her.

For the next couple of hours they stayed in the bar, talking and occasionally getting up to dance with one another. A little while later, Rachel found herself strolling down the street towards her hotel, swinging her and James' arms as they walked hand in hand; Kurt next to them. They'd gotten out of the taxi a few blocks away so that she could spend as much time with James as possible; knowing that he needed to get home himself.

"I had so much fun tonight" Kurt said, James smiled back and nodded his agreement.

"So did I" Rachel replied. They walked for a couple more minutes before they arrived at the hotel. Kurt said goodnight to James before walking inside to leave the two of them to say goodnight.

Rachel stepped closer to him, and he leaned down to kiss her, her hands linking behind his head as he kissed her. They started tender, short kisses before she deepened it as he pulled her closer to him running a hand softly up and down her back. Rachel was incredibly happy in the position and they remained like that for several minutes before he pulled back and pecked her softly on the lips.

"You looked so beautiful tonight" He murmured softly, and she kissed him once more before removing her hands from his neck.

"Thank you" She whispered softly, he smiled back at her nodding his head.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He said, his hands still on her neck; thumbs rubbing circles on her cheeks.

"Bye" She replied, before kissing him once more before they walked away from one another.

Twenty minutes later, after saying goodnight to her Dads who murmured their response from bed and having washed and gotten changed, Rachel found herself in bed eyes closed, with a huge smile on her lips as she drifted of to sleep thinking of the amazing night.

...

**A/N : **

**Fluffy Chapter. Rachel has made a number of friends; some will pop up throughout senior year! One more chapter left of Summer in New York before Kurt and Rachel head back to Lima!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Rachel woke up, arching her back as she stretched in bed, a smile etched across her face; as it had been since James had walk her home after the party. Glancing around the room, Kurt was pottering about organizing things wearing his bath robe. Smirking as he waved at her before heading back into the bathroom, Rachel rolled her head back over and gazed out of the window. The sun shining brightly, and birds flew past the window. Rachel sighed happily as her eyes gazed down below the windowsill. Her smile faded as she saw the open suitcases sat next to one another on the floor. Kurt's had already begun to be packed with some clothes already inside, hers was empty except for a few things. The empty state of it a reminder that in a few days time she and James would part ways, each going back to their own states. Rachel shook her head, trying to focus on the present, spending the last time days with James having fun and sharing his company.

Throwing back the covers, Rachel climbed out of bed and got dressed. As she came out of the bathroom twenty minutes, while she was fixing her earrings, she saw Kurt sat on her bad. He was wearing a smile, but she could see sadness in his eyes.

"You okay Kurt?" Rachel asked, sitting on the bed with him.

"You haven't started packing yet" Kurt replied, touching her hand softly.

Rachel gulped, looking at their suitcases with a sad smile. "We've still got a few days, there's plenty of time"

"Rachel" Kurt said, and she glanced in his eyes. "Talk to James. You two are getting serious, and you need to talk about it"

She nodded, looking down at their hands and sighed. "Alright"

...

A short cab ride, and an hour later Rachel was sat in the middle of a workshop with James and Matt. His hand was resting on her leg, and hers was covering it; holding onto his hand tightly as his thumb soothing motions on her knee. Her thoughts were drifting onto how bring up the conversation she needed to have with him. A small part of her was worried about how he would react; if he would even feel about what she had to say. Suddenly her breath caught in her throat as her thoughts dwelled on the matter. Did he even care for her enough to want to continue being with her across state lines; what if this was simply a summer fling for him, a bit of fun while he was away from home. But once he was back home, he would forget about her. She'd spoken to Finn about wanting to be with someone who would choose her above anything else and here she was kidding herself by being with some guy who'd just used her and would be done with her in a few days time.

"You okay?" James whispered softly, his hand squeezing her leg. Rachel turned her head to look at him, his face creased in concern. She smiled and nodded her head, flashing him a smile as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. Rachel sighed happily as he looked forward again, glad to know that he had realised she was worried about something. The concern in his eyes washed away her troubles. Rachel shifted closer to him, and leaned into his side as a smile appeared on his face.

...

"So what do you think " Matt asked, as they were stood around at the end of the day. After the programme's last full days worth of activities had finished, they were sat on the steps outside the auditorium. James was sat on the step below Rachel as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"You're hair is so fluffy" She whispered giggling into his ear as she leaned over. He tilted his head up and gazed at her, a smirk on his face. Rachel kissed his cheek as he turned back to Matt who was rolling his eyes.

"Watching some NYADA students perform tomorrow is going to be amazing" He grinned, "I'm surprised it took them this long to show-off their students to us"

They continued to talk to each other for a few more minutes, before Lucy arrived and took Matt away. Kurt had called a cab and they were about to head off to it when James kept hold of her hand when they had kissed goodbye. Rachel looked up at him frowned as she wondered what he wanted.

"I was thinking..." James said, before breaking off, his brows furrowed slightly. Rachel, a little concerned, stepped forward and took a hand from his and placed it over his cheek. He looked up and stared into her eyes and she smiled as she saw nervousness as well as affection for her.

"What's wrong?"

"I've done this all wrong..." James replied softly, sighing "We never went out as boyfriend and girlfriend"

Rachel smiled widely, and rubbed his arms with her hands. "That's what's bothering you? It's okay"

"No" James shook his head "No it's not. I want to take you out. Tonight"

"You want to take me out?" Rachel replied softly.

"Yeah" James nodded, and as he talked there was a vulnerability as his voice cracked slightly "We only have a few days left with one another. I'm not sure how we're going to make it work when I'm in Oregon and you're in Ohio but...I think a good way to start is by doing the basics right"

Rachel laughed at his words, and the tone of his voice she could tell he was as worried about what would happen between them as she had been this morning and earlier in the day. Her voice was gentle, and quiet. "I'd love to"

James grinned and then leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. A few short kisses followed and she pulled back biting her lip.

"Where are we going?"

"Anilo's" James replied, and when he saw the frown on her face he smiled and explained "It's a vegan restaurant, my mom told me about. Perfect for my favourite girl"

Rachel blushed, and hugged him tightly. Pulling back, she kissed him on the lips again. "Pick me up at 8 tonight?"

James nodded, and kissed her one more time before she ran away pausing as she opened the door and waved at him happily before she hopped into the cab with Kurt.

"What are you smiling about? Did you talk to James?" Kurt asked

"Not as such" Rachel replied, and as Kurt frowned and opened his mouth to respond she raised a hand. "Wait, We didn't talk about it; but he mentioned he's as worried about what's going to happen as I am. He wants to do things right. I promise I'll talk to him tonight."

"Tonight?" Kurt said shaking his head in confusion

"He's taking me out to dinner. Our proper first date" Rachel said grinning from ear to ear.

...

"Wow" Rachel said softly, smiling as she looked at herself in the mirror. Kurt had just finished giving her a makeover in preparation for her date with James. He had styled her hair, tying it into a cute tight bun, her bangs along with two strands of hair framing her face. Kurt had put little make-up on her face, just some simple mascara and lipstick to highlight her eyes and lips. As an outfit, they had chosen a short black skirt and tights along with a white top that had a gap in the material showing off her tanned shoulders. On her feet, Rachel wore a pair of black pumps. "I look really..."

"Hot" Kurt added, stood behind her; his arms crossed and a satisfied smirk on his face. "James is going to love it"

Rachel blushed, leaning forward closer to the mirror and tilting her head observing her hairstyle. Grinning widely, she jumped up out of her chair and hugged Kurt tightly. "Thank you so much"

"You're welcome" Kurt replied kissing her cheek, before they walked towards his bed "But its not completely selfless. I'm going to Skype with Blaine tonight and we're going to watch a film"

"Over Skype?" Rachel asked, trying not to giggle at the thought "That's cute"

"I miss him" Kurt admitted, and opened his mouth to speak when the door linking their room to her dads opened and LeRoy poked his head into the room a smile on his face.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course Daddy" Rachel smiled. Her dad walked forwards, and stood in front of her placing his hands on her shoulders as his thumbs rubbed her exposed skin softly.

"Sweetie, you look beautiful"

"Thanks" Rachel grinned back, kissing her dad on the cheek. As she pulled back, she glanced at the clock. "Is James here yet?"

"Ah" LeRoy smirked, "Yeah he is. Your Dad is talking to him now"

Rachel's eyes flew open in shock, gulping she then frowned at him. "You left Dad alone with him? Daddy..."

"I know sweetie" LeRoy glanced at Kurt who was smirking at them "But...James is taking our only daughter out for dinner. He needs to know the ground rules"

"Daddy" Rachel said in horror, running through the door and stopping as she saw her dad stood with his back to her talking to James who had a handsome grin on his face as he laughed at whatever her Dad was saying. Her heart beat faster as she saw him, his smile always made something in her stir; she had never been this attracted to a guy before. His hair was fluffy in that way that she had instantly loved, a messy look to it that somehow matched the smart clothes he was wearing perfectly. He had a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, a black dinner jacket over the top along with pants. One of his hands was in his pant pocket as the other rubbed his chest. As her eyes lingered on him, his eyes glanced at her and they met. His brown eyes sparkling in the light. Their eyes stayed linked on one another's for several moments; a wordless connection between them that their feelings could be expressed without the need for words.

"I'll leave you two to it" Hiram said, kissing her cheek as he passed snapping her out of her gazing into James' eyes. She smiled as he walked into the other room. When she turned to look at James again, he was walking towards her softly. He paused a few steps inches away from her; breathing out deeply. James took a step closer and placed his hands around her waist, as her arms snaked up his and pulled him closer. She tilted her head upwards as their lips met. They shared a few chaste kisses, before she felt him pull back and lean his forehead against hers. Smiling she touched her nose to his.

"You look incredibly beautiful" He said softly a look of affection his eyes as he gazed at her, his hand stroking her cheek tenderly.

"Thank you" She replied, kissing him on the lips again. She brushed his fluffy fringe back out of his forehead as she stared into his eyes" You look very handsome as well"

He grinned at her, before speaking in the tender tone that had become the norm for when he spoke to her over the last few weeks. "You ready to go?"

Rachel nodded, before heading to the adjoining doors and telling her Dads and Kurt that she was leaving with James; her dads reminding her to not be out too late. Shaking her head, a smile gracing her face, she headed back to James and they walked out of the room, their hands joined; fingers intertwined.

An hour later, after making small talk about their favourite summer programme workshop as well as other general musical preferences, their food was given to them. Rachel ordered zucchini enchiladas, with James asking for parmesan and a variety of vegetables wrapped in pastry. As they ate, he told her about the embarrassing time his sister walked in on him singing songs from Broadway shows when he was 10 years old.

"Wow..." Rachel said laughing

"I know" James smirked, "Yeah...she tormented me for years about whether I was gay"

"I thought you were close with your sister" Rachel asked, taking a mouthful of her food

"We are, We were even back then" James replied "It's just brother sister rivalry. It was all laid to rest when she caught me staring at certain magazines that I shouldn't have been"

Rachel eyes widened and she laughed loudly. "Well, I'm certainly glad you're straight"

"Me too" James said smirking, leaning forward and kissing her softly on the lips.

They pulled back, and Rachel was filled with the same joy and happiness that she felt every time she had been close to James over the past few days. Even before then, she could feel the link between them. Looking at James, she saw him smirking as he gazed at her.

"What about you. Tell me something embarrassing"

"Okay...umm...when I was eight years old, I got my first love letter from a guy named Tony" James smiles playfully at her, taking a sip of his drink; chuckling lightly "he was very cute, and when he gave it to me I corrected all of the grammatical errors and spelling errors and then I gave it back to him"

"Wow...that's really bad" James laughed at her, she joined in. After a few minutes, she reached over and held onto his hand on the table, staring at him smiling. She felt lucky that she had found someone who cared about her; someone who gave her full attention when she was talking.

"There was a time when I had a hard time believing that I would ever be considered attractive" Rachel admitted, speaking softly. James titled his head and looked at her concern in his eyes.

"Why?"

"I was invisible, no-one ever spoke to me or listened to what I had to say" Rachel replied tenderly "The first time I got that was with Jesse. He would listen to me, but I don't think any of that was truly real. With Finn...I just happy that someone found me beautiful. It didn't matter to me that he never paid attention to whatever it was I was saying."

James smiled sadly, "You deserve so much more than that"

"I know" Rachel admitted, moving her other hand to cover their joined ones. "And you give me that. You are perfect"

James bowed his head, a blush covering his cheeks.

Rachel smiled as she looked at him. Her thoughts drifted onto her conversation with Kurt, and she felt that this was the time to talk to him about what was going to happen between them after the weekend when they would go back to their own states. She had been nervous at bringing it up with him, worried that he wouldn't be interested in her after he went home; but what she had said to him was true. He was the one guy she had known in her life that was true and honest with her, he listened to her intently and cared for what she had to say.

"I don't know about perfect" James grinned looking back up from his lap as a blush flourished across his cheeks. "But what I know is that you are an amazing girl. You deserve someone who will treat you like a queen. If they don't want to listen to you, then they aren't worth your time"

Rachel smiled at him, gripping his hand tighter. "What's going to happen after this weekend?"

James took a deep breath as he let it out. He whispered softly "I don't know Rachel"

"I like being your girlfriend" Rachel said, and he smiled at her. "You make me feel like the most important girl in the world. You look and speak to me with so much tenderness and affection. I know how much you care about me"

"You're amazing" James said smiling at her faintly "I want to be with you after this summer. I don't want to say goodbye to you"

"Neither do I" Rachel replied weakly, looking at him. "But we will be so far away from one another"

"Does that matter?" James said, leaning forward in his seat "Look Rachel, I know we'll be so far away and...that is really going to be crap. But, I want to know that we're still together, that I can call and talk to you when I get out of school and I'm happy about something or whether I'm upset because Matt is giving me a hard time because the Seahawks lost"

"Really?" Rachel asked, giggling softly as she thought back a tear that had begun to well in her eyes. "You think that we can make it work?"

"Yeah" James nodded, leaning forward and kissing her pushing hard against her lips. When he pulled back, he moved a hand and wiped a tear away from her cheek. "Don't cry"

"I'm just happy that you're thinking the same thing as me" Rachel said smiling at him again, leaning into his hand "I thought that you might have just been using me this summer, and when you go back to Oregon you'll forget about me"

James looked at her with a sad look on his face, and she thought she had said the wrong thing. "Only for a split second, I promise. I realised that how you look at me and the look in your eye is..."

"Don't apologize. I understand" James said as he shook his head smiling at her reassuringly "I don't blame you. Things happened really quickly, we went from being friends to being boyfriend girlfriend so quickly. A month ago we didn't even know each other and now we're here"

"But it feels right" Rachel said softly, causing him to grin widely again

"Yeah it does"

"I just feel bad for doubting you, for thinking that you didn't really care about me" Rachel said, and James leaned forward looking at her with his caring eyes

"It's fine, don't apologize for something that isn't important. All that is matters is, I care about you and you care about me" James replied, kissing her forehead. "I'm just happy that I have you"

"Me too. My Dad's approve of you which is a plus as well..."

They sat looking at one another for several seconds before James laughed suddenly. Rachel looked at him strangely for a few moments, before she felt the urge to laugh as well.

"What's so funny"

"Your Dad…" James said smirking.

"I'm sorry about him. I don't know what he said but it was probably something inappropriate and embarrassing" Rachel said, blushing.

"No…well yeah he did mention that I wasn't to try anything with you or he'd have to call Barbara to sing at our wedding" James said and they both laughed again. "But no, he said that if we were serious about each other, I could come visit you and stay in the guest room during the school year"

"Really?" Rachel said, her heart fluttering.

"Yeah, apparently they really like me" James admitted, and rubbed a hand up and down her arm "Would that be okay with you if I did?"

"Of course! Why did you even have to ask" Rachel replied happily, leaning forward and kissing him again. As she pulled back she felt another tear run down her cheek. "I just wish that you could come home with me this week. There's so much I want to show you, and to introduce you to my friends"

James looked at her for a moment, a strange expression on his face before it split into a smile, as he wiped the tear from her eye "Okay…Well, I have something to tell you"

"What is it?" Rachel asked concerned

"It's nothing bad, in fact it's a good thing I think…" James replied, biting his lip anxiously. "Jake invited me to stay with him for a week"

"Wait...what are you saying" Rachel asked frowning. _Jake is in Vocal Adrenaline...and if he's letting james stay with him then that means_

"I'm going to be in Ohio for a week, the week after next" James said smiling "I don't want to push you...but I was hoping that I could come visit you for a few days in Lima"

"Are you serious?" Rachel said loudly, grinning widely "I would love that!"

"Yeah?" James asked, and leaned forward to kiss her

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Rachel asked, smiling at him

"I didn't want to force you into anything" James replied, holding her hands "But, I want to make this work and this is just another excuse to spend more time with you"

"That would be so amazing" Rachel said, "I can show you around Lima, and introduce you to the glee club. You can stay in the guest room for the few days you come to visit me so that you won't need to drive back to Akron"

"I'd love to" James replied, "I didn't want to make things to be difficult, since I wasn't sure if we'd even be together before we went home…I was going to tell you tomorrow, but your Dad was so amazing and you are just incredible"

Rachel said, bringing his hands to her lips and kisses his knuckles. "This is going to be so great"

James looked at her grinning, before their hands separated as they finished their dinner. Rachel was happy beyond belief, not only had all her anxiety regarding the future with James been resolved, she had him coming to visit her in Lima for a few days. It would suck after that when they had to say goodbye again, but Rachel knew deep down that they would be able to make it work; they both cared about each other to make sure that it did. Their conversation drifted to when they could visit one another as they sat eating desert; James had ordered icecream and Rachel had non-dairy cheesecake.

"I can come watch your sectionals" Rachel remarked as James swallowed a spoonful. "And you can show me around your home and school"

"That'd be great" James said grinning. "Oregon's sectionals are at the end of September and the first week of October. We're one of the first"

"That's a whole month before Ohio's start" Rachel replied, smiling. "You'll have to come watch"

"Try and stop me" James laughed, "What about thanksgiving? You still celebrate that right?"

Rachel nodded, swallowing before she spoke. "Yeah it's an American holiday not a Jewish one. Only difference is we have a tofu turkey"

James laughed at her, before nodding. "Well, my mom doesn't like to celebrate it with Charlie away. Harvard runs classes during the week for law students…and with my dad…well we haven't had a proper thanksgiving for a few years. I could come visit you during then"

"That'd be great, you can have it with us. It'll be great, we sing songs and " Rachel cut off as James laughed at her, smirking she found herself joining in.

"You and your dads are absolutely amazing" James responded, holding her hand tightly. "It just sounds perfect"

A while later, they were walking back into the hotel lobby, Rachel telling him about the plans she had already begun to make in her head of what they would do in Lima when he came to visit. James, being James, smiled at her as she talked gazing at her affectionately.

"The Lima bean has the best coffee I've ever tasted, well apart from New York; but that's New York coffee" Rachel remarked, swinging her hand in is softly

"Yeah, it's like the best ever. I think its the water" James said smiling

"Me, Kurt and Blaine go there all the time" Rachel said as they waited for the lift. "Oh Blaine! You've got to meet him, he's Kurt's boyfriend and he's just like you. He's so sweet"

"I look forward to meeting all your friends" James replied, standing facing her and placing his hands around her waist as they stood in the lift going up to her room. Rachel smiled before a thought crossed her mind; her friends back home. Finn. She hadn't talked to Finn all summer, and when they had last talked she had broken up with him for good. She was going home in a few days and she would inevitably run into him. Her eyes widened as she realised not only that, but James was coming to visit. Her new boyfriend was going to be in close proximity to her ex. An ex who had no idea she would have started seeing someone else.

"Rachel…are you okay?" James asked concerned, one of his hands cupping her face.

"Yeah…" Rachel said softly, and James leant forward to kiss her lips softly; pulling back slightly to stare into her eyes affectionately

"You can tell me, you can always tell me anything" James said, smiling to reassure her of his words.

"I know" Rachel replied softly, sighing "I just realised that I haven't told anybody back home about us"

"Why does that bother you?" James asked, "The idea of being your secret lover is kind of sexy"

"I haven't told Finn…" Rachel admitted weakly, and she saw confusion in his eyes "You're going to come visit me, and he doesn't even know that I've found someone else"

"Why is that making you sad?" James said, a frown on his brow. "I don't understand"

"Because I hurt him when I broke up with him" Rachel replied, her bottom lip quivering. "And seeing you is only going to hurt him even more"

James stepped back from her, looking at her with confusion. "I don't understand what you're saying"

"If you come, it's going to upset him so much" Rachel said softly

James titled his head at her, frowning with a sad look in his eyes. "Do you not want me to come see you? So you don't have to face upsetting him?"

Rachel remained silent as the lift opened. She grabbed his hand and led him out, but he was unmoving. Looking back at him, she saw hurt on his face as he shook his head.

"I should go home" James said softly. Rachel looked at him with despair on her face as she tugged him out of the lift roughly, embracing him tightly. After a few long moments, she pulled back and placed both hands on his face forcing him to look at her.

"Don't be mad at me" Rachel pleaded softly. "Of course I want you to come visit me."

"It doesn't sound like it" James replied weakly, a tear running down his cheek which she wiped away.

"I do" Rachel said firmly, and he smiled slightly at her. "Me and Finn are finished. It's just I hadn't thought of how I was going to tell him. This summer has been so amazing with you, that I haven't thought of anyone back home in Ohio"

James nodded, and his smile grew. "I'm sorry, I just thought…"

"I know, and I don't want to make you feel like that" Rachel replied, "I'll speak to Finn, its just I don't want to rub you in his face. I can't hurt him any more. But I don't want to hurt you just to make him feel better"

James looked at her, before leaning forward and kissing her. "I understand"

Grinning, Rachel hand moved to his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. After a few small tender kisses, she ran her tongue across his lip as he smiled against her; opening his mouth and deepening it as his met her tongue. One of his hands rubbed shapes on her back pulled her closer into his body, as the other gripped hers tightly. They stood there in the corridor near her hotel room for quite a while enjoying the taste and feel of each other. After a time, he pulled back short of breath and leaned his forehead against hers; kissing the tip of her nose. Rachel licked her bottom lip as he grinned at her.

"I really like kissing you" James said, and Rachel chuckled at him. "You're an amazing kisser"

"Well, you're not so bad yourself" Rachel giggled, as he kissed her softly on the lips again. "I best get in before my Dads come looking for you"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow" James replied, pulling her in for another kiss that ended up lasting a few minutes longer than it should have done. Rachel ended up teasingly shoving him away, "You need to go"

"Until tomorrow Ms Berry" He said laughing as he waved, walking backwards slowly.

"Bye " Rachel replied, opening the door to her hotel room, blowing him a kiss as she disappeared inside.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next morning, Rachel was in a fantastic mood as she sat in the back of a cab with Kurt heading to NYADA for the final day of their summer programme in New York. This would have been a sad day but for the developments the previous night as she had dinner with James. This would have been the day they were saying goodbye, both heading their separate ways; but instead, he was coming to visit her for a few days in Ohio, staying in the guest room of her house.

She was sat with a huge grin on her face, and it had been there since she had entered the hotel room after saying goodnight to James. After going into her room, she was greeted by Kurt watching a late night talk show. He had dragged her into his bed after she had performed her night-time routine, and she had spent over an hour telling Kurt about what had happened at dinner, filling him in on all the little details as he squealed in happiness. Rachel felt a incredibly thankful for Kurt's advice. He had been the one who had told, almost to point of forcing, her to talk to James to get all of their feelings out in the opening so that they find out if they wanted to be together after they left New York and if so, work out a way to deal with the next year of being so far away. He was ecstatic that James had agreed with her that they could make it work. Kurt had become fond of James and admitted himself he would be upset if they fell out of touch with their new friends. He had also been proud of her, and appreciated how Rachel had thought about Finn's feeling in all of this; although a little scolding of how she had informed James of it; he was glad that she was going to talk to Finn before James arrived, and she had reassured Kurt that she wouldn't rub James in his face when he was in Ohio.

In the morning, at breakfast, she had talked to her Dads; thanking them for telling James he could visit whenever he wanted and was welcome to stay in their guest room. They had smiled, telling her happily that they loved the young man; and especially how he treated her. LeRoy had assured her that as long as he made their little girl feel special and made her happy, James would always be welcome to stay with them. She then told them about his intention to visit just over a week; asking if he take up their offer and if he could stay for a few days when he came to visit; something that LeRoy was particularly overjoyed at, to which they replied that as long as his parents agreed it would be alright with them, teasing her slightly saying that they would have to patrol the hallway at night to make sure they didn't sneak off to each other's room. Kurt had laughed loudly at this, causing many people to glance at them, while Rachel had sat there furiously blushing at the implied meaning.

Now her and Kurt were in the cab taking them to NYADA for the final time this summer, singing along to the cab drivers radio. This particular cab driver was called Thero and had driven them many times over the course of the past month and knew their names. Bidding him farewell, they got out of the cab and walked arms linked through the courtyard with a beautiful water fountain in the middle surrounded by well trimmed grass and multi coloured flowers.

As they walked into the auditorium foyer, Matt and the others they had become friends with waved them over. They greeted the group and were chatting for a few minutes about the upcoming NYADA student performance and what they thought would be sung to them. Laughing, a thought crossed her mind; something that hadn't occurred to her.

"Where's James?" Rachel asked concerned. She'd been so caught up in her happiness and the thrill of talking to her dads this morning that she hadn't realised he wasn't stood with them. That was odd, as he was always here before her: it was his thing where he would wait for her. Matt went to open his mouth when Rachel squealed as she felt two arms wrap around her waist and hug her tightly. She leaned back into the person as she felt lips press against the side of neck before they made their way up; leaving tender kisses along the way before settling just behind her ear.

"Good morning beautiful" a deep but soft voice whispered into her ear before she turned around and saw James grinning at her. "Surprise"

She smiled widely at him before standing up off her heels and kissing him fully. She felt him smile against her lips as he lifted her off the ground causing her to pull back and scream as they both, along with the others, laughed.

"You suck" Rachel pouted as he put her down, smiling before he pressed a kiss to her lips again.

"I know" he said against her lips, then pulling back to brush some of her hair out of her face. "I missed you"

"I missed you too. Last night was so great" She said before grinning, pecking him on the lip again "Where we're you? Normally you're here standing waiting for me with that cute goofy smile on your face"

"You think my smile is cute?" James asked smirking at her, and she rolled her eyes at him in response.

"If you two are done, we should go into the auditorium before we get shit seats" Jake said smirking as the group started heading towards the large doors. James smiled at her, intertwining his fingers in hers as they walked slowly behind the others. As they passed through the doors, she looked up at him and smiled.

"Where were you?" James smile faded slightly, and she stopped walking pulling him to face her. She spoke softly ; "What's wrong?"

"I was talking...talking to my dad" James replied softly, looking down at her; a look of sadness in his eye.

"Are you okay? What did he say?" Rachel asked tenderly, raising a hand to stroke his cheek trying to offer him the comfort he needed, knowing his strained relationship with his dad.

"Yeah, I'm okay" James said simply, and Rachel looked at him reassuringly "He was asking me about this summer. If I had a good time"

Rachel nodded, staying silent knowing that he would talk to her if she did. "As always, he had to go and talk to some business partner about something. Everytime I tell him something important"

"What were you telling him?"

"About you. How I had met this amazing girl and was going to Ohio to see her." James said smiling slightly. "But he doesn't care, just said he had to go and that this Rochelle girl sounds lovely"

Rachel leaned up and kissed James on the lips softly, rubbing his cheek reassuringly. "Don't worry about it"

"I know, its just I'm used to him not listening. Just when its something so important to me it really hurts"

"I know" Rachel replied, taking his hand in hers again "But I'll always listen to you. Come on lets sit down"

...

The performance by the NYADA and Julliard students was amazing. It spanned across a period of around 2 hours. They Julliard dramatic arts students performed a number of scenes from West Side Story as well as a few incredibly choreographed dance routines to popular music from the charts. The NYADA students in turn, featured four soloists who sung a medley of songs from different artists. Rachel and Kurt, along with many others, enjoyed the junior student who sung a number of Barbara Streisand songs. James rolled his eyes as he listened, watching them jump up and down dancing together as they sung along. Afterwards, the director of the Julliard theatre department Janet Williams came on stage and talked them for a half hour.

"Finally, I would just like to thank you all for spending this summer in our programme. We have enjoyed spending time with the incredibly talented people that you all are. We hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I and the other tutors have. I hope that this isn't goodbye, and that we welcome many of you into Julliard next year when you come to New York to study. For those of you intending to apply to NYADA; we wish you the very best of luck" Janet said, before smiling and saying before she left to applause from the kids. "May you all have safe journeys home"

A little while later, and they were all sat chatting in a diner around the corner from NYADA. The day had finished with them collecting a number of booklets and a certificate signifying that they had participated in the summer programme. It was around 2pm and some of them had wanted lunch; hence why they found themselves in the diner. They were sat in a circular booth, Rachel having finished her soup; wiping her mouth on a napkin. She was sat with James, who was talking to Adam, Jake and Matt about sports as he ate some fries, and Kurt, who was talking to the girls, on either side of her. Licking her lips she leant into James side, listening to his conversation vaguely leaning her head on his shoulder. She smiled as she felt his hand move to her knee and she covered it with her own two as he continued talking to Matt but now with a smile on his face as he rubbed her leg with his thumb. The seven of them spent the next hour and a half in the diner, ordering a few more drinks, as they spent time with one another for the last time before they would go their different ways. It was sombre affair, but no-one seemed to mind. They had become friends over the last few weeks and were just enjoying the time they had left. The boys soon turned from talking about sports to teasing James over his relationship with her. She made a point of turning his head to her and kissing him fully for several moments before pulling back and looking at the huge smile on his face as he gazed into her eyes. She leaned into his side as he placed his arm around her shoulder; kissing her forehead. Rachel smiled up at him as he turned back to talk to the guys.

"Did you talk to your mom about coming to Ohio?"

"Yeah I did" James replied, glancing and smirking at Rachel. "She says thats it cool if i do"

"Sweet man" Jake replied, highfiving him as Rachel bit her lip. "Gonna be so awesome, After you see Carmel you're going to want to transfer and join Vocal Adrenaline"

"Sure...you guys are just _that_awesome right" James laughed back, afterwards he turned and glanced at Rachel. "I should tell you though, I'm going to cut it short by three days or so dude.

"Why?" Jake asked with a puzzled expression, and Rachel giggled.

"I'm going to Lima" James replied grinning widely.

"What's in Lima?"

"He's staying with me, it's going to be so much fun" Rachel replied, kissing James cheek.

"Dude...you're ditching me for the chick?" Jake said smirking

"You're lucky I'm coming to see you at all now that Rachel's dads are letting me use their guest room" James replied grinning.

"Ah I see how it is. She puts out and suddenly you ditch me" Jake remarked, and Rachel eyes widened slightly

"Dude not cool" James replied frowning, shaking his head. "Don't talk about her like that"

"Sorry Rachel , I didn't mean anything by it" Jake said apologetically.

"It's okay" Rachel replied softly, squeezing James hand gently as she could tell he was't impressed. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips tenderly and she smiled at him as he pulled away.

"So her dads are cool with you staying?" Matt asked, taking a drink

"Yeah, they love him" Kurt said causing Rachel to start giggling. "In fact, I'm pretty sure they're already planning a wedding"

"Really?"

"Apparently they want Barbara Streisand to perform" James replied, smirking. Rachel glared at him furiously, feeling her cheeks warm with embarrassment. She cared about him, but all this talk of marriage was just horrible, she didn't want to think about that yet; take things slowly and just enjoy it rather than worrying about anything serious. "It's cool though. They like me and I get on well with her dads. They are actually pretty cool themselves. As long as I treat her right; they are fine with me staying"

"It's going to be so much fun" Rachel said happily, rubbing her hand up and down his arm "I'm going to show him around Lima. Go for walks in the park, go the movies or well we could just stay at home watch some films cuddling up by the fire"

"Got it all planned huh?" James asked, softly. Rachel nodded proudly and cuddled up to him as he rested his head ontop of hers.

"Looks like we're never going to get him back to Oregon" Lucy said laughing

"I won't keep him forever, I promise" Rachel said giggling as James kissed the side of her head. Her eyes fluttering closed enjoying the sensation.

"Make sure you don't, we need him to win nationals again" Matt replied smirking, Rachel rolled her eyes at him and James chuckled.

"We'll have to see about that" Kurt said smugly, and they are all laughed.

"Speaking of going home" Jake said, "When do you fly out of New York?"

"Sunday" James said softly, his hand tightened in hers.

"Tomorrow afternoon" Rachel replied, smiling sadly at James who was looking down at their hands Kurt nodded.

"Then we've only got tonight?" Matt replied "Well we should go to Callback's again. There's a load of kids from the summer programme going there"

"That sounds great" Jake said smiling.

"I don't know, I kinda wanted to spend some time with Rachel" James replied sadly, and Rachel looked at him.

"It'll be fun, we can go and hang out there" Rachel said, nudging him encouragingly. He looked at her and smiled. "And…we can sing a duet"

James smile grew as the words left her mouth. He squeezed her hand. "Alright I'm in. I couldn't leave New York without singing with a duet with you"

"Then its settled. We'll meet there at around seven or so?" Jake replied triumphantly. They all agreed to meeting at the bar then, before they left the diner. James insisted on walking her back to the hotel with Kurt, Rachel eagerly agreeing; happy just to spend time with him before their inevitable departure. They laughed and talked as they walked through the streets of New York, and when they finally reached it; Kurt left them to it. James smiled and leaned down to kiss Rachel, and the two spent a great deal of time participating before he pulled back and bid her farewell. Rachel ran up to the hotel room, with a smile on her face, to get ready for tonight.

….

Several hours later, and Rachel found herself dancing in Callbacks with James. She'd worn a blue knee length dress that had gotten many remarks from the group about her pretty she looked. Their opinions didn't matter as much as the look of awe she saw on James' face as he first saw her. His jaw looked like it was going to drop off and it had made her blush furiously. Walking up to him, she'd kissed him and he had whispered in her ear telling how beautiful she looked. That was something sh loved about him. He never used words like "hot" or "sexy" about her; instead using ones such as Gorgeous, Beautiful and stunning. He knew how to make her feel incredible about herself, washing away the self-conscious thoughts that she had about how she would never be seen as attractive.

For the last time, the group of ten people that had grown to become friends this summer were spending time with one another. Rachel made conversation with them, particularly Jake who despite his crudeness he was sweet to her and reminded her in many ways of Puck. The fact that he was in Vocal Adrenaline meant that she hoped to see him during the next year along with the other Carmel girls. She hoped they would stay in touch, and that would make it easier to miss James when he was coming to visit.

The bulk of time however was spent with him. They danced for a long time together, ignorant to the others, goofing around or as they were now; slow dancing. She had her head rested on his shoulder as his was in the crook of her neck, tenderly kissing her just below her ear, on that spot that she loved when he did, as he whispered into her ear.

"I'm going to miss you so much" He said softly, and Rachel pulled back to look at him. There was a tear running down his cheek.

"So will I" Rachel replied, moving a hand to cup his cheek and wiping it away with her thumb. "But you're coming to visit. And I'm visiting you"

James nodded, as she moved her hand and placed it over his heart, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. They spent several more minutes kissing as they swayed on the dance floor, happy to be enjoying the time together, as the girl on stage finished singing her Adele song. Eventually, James pulled back, but only a little bit, so that his lips were an inch away as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I'm going to miss those lips" He said seriously, and Rachel just bit her lip.

"You make me feel so amazing" Rachel replied, and kissed him gently. "That's what I'm going to miss"

"I'll call you every day and tell you how incredible and beautiful you are" James said, kissing her again.

"How will you know I look beautiful if you can't see me?" Rachel replied teasingly, causing him to smile.

"Because you are always beautiful to me" James said kissing her once more on the lips. She smiled against him after a few seconds.

"Come on, Let's sing" She said, James grinned nodding and she tugged his hand towards the band.

"What do you want to sing?" James asked, leaning his head on her shoulder as he stood behind her while she looked through songs. Rachel bit her lip, before looking up and kissing the side of his face.

"Since you said it would be an honour to sing with me…" Rachel said grinning, teasing him at his words a few fays ago "I'll do you an even bigger one and let you pick"

James laughed, before kissing her. "Thank you Baby"

Rachel mouth opened to reply at the affectionate name, and she closed it smiling. The way it rolled of his tongue and how it sounded to her ears as perfect. She had dreamed as a little girl what it would be like to have a guy call her baby. This had beaten it by a mile. She grinned as his eyebrows furrowed looking through songs.

"Found one?" Rachel asked a few seconds later. He glanced at her and smirked, showing her his choice.

"Know the song?"

"I love them" Rachel replied grinning, taking his hand. "Let's do it"

...

James and Rachel stood on stage, facing each other as the music starts. James beating his hand against his thigh in time to the beat. Rachel swaying her shoulders softly. James winks at her as he starts singing, she smiles as he hits the falsetto on the first line.

_I run from hate, I run from prejudice _

_I run from pessimists, but I run too late_

Rachel takes over the lyrics, her voice clear and strong as she closes her eyes drawing out the note at first, before opening to see James smiling at her widely as the beat speeds up. He takes a step closer to her.

_I run my life or is it running me, run from my past_  
_I run too fast or too slow it seems_

They sing together, their voices joining beautifully.

_When lies become the truth_  
_That's when I run to you_

Rachel grins as James points at her as they sing. He then turns to the crowd as she keeps watching him.

_This world keeps spinning faster_  
_Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you baby_  
_When it all starts coming undone_  
_Baby, you're the only one I run to, I run to you_

James walks around Rachel as they sings, her heard follows him; still a massive smile on her face. He pauses behind her, a hand moving to her waist as she turns to face him. She takes a step closer, and her leg touches his as they sing to each other.

_We run on fumes, your life and mine_  
_Like the sands of time slippin' right on through_  
_And our love's the only truth_  
_That's why I run to you_

_This world keeps spinning faster_  
_Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you baby_  
_When it all starts coming undone_  
_Baby, you're the only one I run to, I run to you_

James takes her hand, spinning her around on the spot as he grins. She sings the verse solo as he stares into her eyes full of adoration and she feels her heart beat faster. He always look at with such a mesmerized look in his eyes; as if he can't believe she's as good as she is. It reminds her of how Finn looked at her, and how she used to think that he was the only guy who would ever be like that with her.

_Whoa, oh, I run to you_

_This world keeps spinning faster_  
_Into a new disaster so I run to you, I run to you baby_  
_When it all starts coming undone_  
_Baby, you're the only one I run to, I run to you, I run to you, yeah_

_Whoa, oh, I run to you_  
_I run to you girl, whoa_

_I always run to you_  
_Run to you, run to you_

They finish the song stood face to face, as the people in the bar cheer and applaud. He smiles and leans into kiss her cheek before she grabs his hand and drags him off stage.

….

"Singing with you is amazing" James said, scooping her up in her arms and twirling her around. Rachel giggled and laughed as he put her down and kissed her, placing two hands on her waist, running his tongue along her bottom mouth as she moaned and opened. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. After several minutes, she pulled back; kissing him once tenderly before taking his hand and walking over to where their friends were sat talking.

"You guys were fantastic" Kurt said smiling, as Rachel hugged him sitting down. "Your voices go together so amazingly"

Rachel grinned, looking across the table at James who was stood leaning against the booth with hand on Matt's shoulder. He was gazing at her with adoration in his eyes and winked as she bit her lip.

"I'm just so glad we got the chance before we go home" Rachel said, still smiling, as she took a drink.

She was still watching James, as Jake highfived him as he congratulated him on his duet with her. Rachel was amazed by how well their voices had gone together. The boys in the past she had sung with had complemented hers well; except for Jesse who was always looked to shine as much as she had; but James had matched hers for its intensity. He had sung with her still coming across stronger but instead of competing to be heard she could feel his voice relaxing into the song and his talent came across with hers. She'd felt butterflies in her stomach as they sung to one another; him gazing affectionately and lovingly at her. Rachel smiled at him again as she sat down across from her, moving her foot to touch his leg under the table; giggling softly as his eyebrows raised at her.

"Dude?" Matt said and hit his shoulder. Rachel watched biting her lip as his eyes snapped away from her and he turned his head to look at Matt.

"Sorry what?"

"I said, You were really great up there"

"Cheers man" James replied,

"Best you've been since nationals" Lucy said, and James smiled at him before taking a drink.

They spent an hour or so more at Callbacks, sitting around chatting and enjoying the company of one another. Eventually the time came that they would have to leave the bar and head home. They spent twenty minutes saying their goodbyes to one another outside the bar, reassuring one another that they would try to keep in touch.

"Going to miss you Berry" Matt said as he pulled out of his hug with Rachel. "Keep in touch and look after my boy"

She had a tear on his face, which made him squeeze her shoulder as he moved away and hugged Kurt. Rachel moved to hug Jake and the vocal adrenaline crew. James was stood at the back of the group smiling sheepishly as he finished hugging Kelsie. Some of the group headed off leaving James stood with Kurt and Rachel. Moving over to him she opened her mouth to say goodbye when he pulled her into a kiss, his hands on the side of her cheeks. After a while she pulled back.

"Don't say goodbye" James said softly, rubbing his thumb on her cheek. "I'm walking you home"

Rachel laughed, tears in her eyes. Nodding, she kissed him once more. "I don't want to say it either"

"We aren't" James said smiling slightly "We will have to eventually, but not until I'm leaving Ohio. Now let me walk you back to your hotel"

Nodding happily, Rachel linked her arm with James and walked with him and Kurt. As they walked they didn't talk much, just enjoying being together. As they reached the hotel, James hugged Kurt and said he'd see him in the morning before Kurt walked into the lift telling Rachel he would see him the morning. Rachel pulled James into a hug, resting her head in the crook of his neck as James rested his forehead against her shoulder.

They stood in each other's arms for a long period of silence, simply enjoying being close to one another. What was minutes felt like hours, before James raised his head off her shoulder, and rested his head against her forehead. Both of them had tears in her eyes, James moved his hands to cup her face; wiping her tears away with his thumbs. Rachel gazed at him biting her lip, she was upset that they had to leave one another. He opened his mouth to say something, and rather than here him; she titled her head up and kissed him fully on the lips, her hands snaking up to his neck and pulled him closer forcing her tongue into his mouth. He grunted and a hand went to her waist, pulling her into his body. She moaned as she felt the effect she was having on him against her thigh. She smiled against his lips, glad that she knew how attracted he was to her. They spent a time kissing one another, their action doing something their words couldn't; comforting one another before they would be separated.

Eventually, they slowed down as James pulled back and kissed her several times tenderly on the lips. Stepping back from him, she moved to take his hands in hers moving them to rest over her heart. They both had tears in their eyes.

"I'm going to miss you" Rachel tearfully.

"I'll see you in just over a week" James said, clenching his mouth; knowing that he was trying to keep himself composed. She moved forward and kissed him again softly.

"I'll be counting the hours" Rachel muttered softly, as he pulled her into a hug. They stood like that for around five minutes, before he pulled back from her and kissed her again. Freeing her hands from him, Rachel waved tenderly as she walked backwards to the lift. James blew her a kiss as he turned around and walked down the corridor and out of sight.

Rachel made it into the lift before she let the tears fall down. She knew that she'd see him in only a week, but it upset her immensely to know she wouldn't be seeing him until then. They had spent the best part of everyday talking and spending time with one another during this summer. Suddenly, the guy that had become such a large part of her life was going to be snatched away with her. They were still together, but this hurt a lot more than if they had broken up. She cared about him so much, but he was going to be so far away in Oregon.

As she opened the door, Kurt was sat on his bed waiting for her. He pulled her into a hug as she sat down, resting her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a while, Kurt whispering soothing things into her ear. Her dads came in and checked on her, hugging her and asking if she was okay. Rachel simply nodded as she thanked them and went to get ready for bed.

Thirty minutes later, and she was climbing into bed. She rested her head on the bed, as Kurt climbed into bed with her pulling her into him as he comforted her. She was beginning to drift off into her slumber when her phone buzzed. Reaching over, Kurt smiled as he handed it to her. Rachel grinned as she opened the message, a tear in her eye as she read it.

_Goodnight Angel. I'll call you before your flight x x x_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rachel sighed as she rested her head back against the seat. Here she was again, sat on a plane just as she had at the beginning of summer. However, now things were much different. When she and Kurt had headed off to New York a month ago, she had been absolutely distraught at how things had ended with Finn. She was lonely, upset and all she had for comfort was Kurt. So many things had changed over summer that now she had a much better outlook going into her senior year at McKinley.

Things didn't look as though they had changed. Her eyes were a little puffy and red from the crying at the airport. She was still upset, but it was for a good, happy reason now. She had left a guy she cared about deeply in tears, but this time it was because they were being separated for a week. She had a new boyfriend now, and she knew that she and James could make it work. She was heading back to Ohio with a clear look at how she would spend the next year. Spending the time at NYADA and Julliard had only reaffirmed how much she was in love with Broadway and how much she wanted to become a star. That would be her focus this next year, ensuring that she achieves her dreams of going to New York next summer with Kurt. She hoped James would get into Julliard, and that they could see each other and be in close proximity. The time she spent away from him would be hard, but she knew that her visits to him would keep their relationship going.

She was more confident in herself now, not that she hadn't been incredibly confident before, due to the praise she had received from the tutors at the summer programme. Performing with such famous and talented people had given her a new lease on life; she was more confident than ever that she would make it to new York next summer. NYADA was going to happen.

Rachel, Kurt and her dads had woken early on Saturday morning, heading to the hotel restaurant for breakfast for the final time that summer. Afterwards they loaded their bags and headed to the airport, waiting around for a couple of hours to catch their flight to Ohio. She and Kurt had wandered around the airport for a while as her Dads sat at a coffee shop. Rachel felt rotten, her goodbye with James still fresh in the mid, but Kurt to his credit was doing his best to cheer her up. They were coming out of a book store laughing when her phone rang, defying gravity ringing clearly from her hand as she lifted it out of her pocket. As she gazed down at her phone, a grin spread across her face as she saw the picture of her and James appear. He was stood behind her pressing a kiss to her cheek, his arms wrapped around her waist, as she smiled happily.

"Hey" Rachel said louder than a normal person would have, shooting Kurt a dirty look as he laughed at her. "I'm so glad you called, I miss you so much already"

"Hey Beautiful" James voice says softly down the phone, her smile widening as she hears his voice. "I would have called earlier, but my mom wanted to go shopping first"

"Its fine" Rachel replied, "I didn't think you'd call until later tonight"

James laughed, and she felt her heart beat faster. "Yeah, as if that was going to happen. Are you okay?"

"Yeah" Rachel said softly, feeling a tear in her eye. "I just miss you. This is the longest we've gone without seeing each other"

She hears him laugh, but when he speaks again she can tell that he is fighting back tears. "I know"

There's a period of silence between them, and Rachel just enjoys listening to him breathe down the phone. After a minute she hears a voice in the background.

"Who is that?" She asks

"Oh its Lucy, I'm with her and Matt grabbing some lunch" James says, and she can tell he is smiling. "Matt misses you as well, he says that everyone seems so much smaller now they don't have you to make them look like giants"

Rachel laughs, and then pouts. "Tell Matt he sucks, but I miss him too"

"I will" James replies, and then he sighs. "When's your flight?"

Turning to Kurt, she asks him and he looks at the clock on the wall of the airport and tells her. She feeds it back to James. "We're boarding in about 40minutes"

"Okay" James replies softly. "I should let you go"

"Wait...whens yours?" Rachel asked, eager to talk to him for as long as possible.

"Tomorrow afternoon" James replied

"Are you spending time with Matt and Lucy until then?" Rachel asked concerned. She knew that if he was feeling as awful about them leaving one another then he shouldn't be alone. "I don't want you to be alone..."

"It's alright baby" James replied, "I think we're going to a movie. I'm pretty sure they're trying to keep my spirits up."

"Alright" Rachel says, sniffing. "Call me tonight?"

"Yeah" James says, and Rachel smiles, her lip quivering. "Have a safe flight baby"

"I will" Rachel says, silence between them again for a few seconds before she hangs up the phone. Slipping it back into her pocket, she turns around and tears fall down her cheeks. Kurt embraces her and whispers soothingly into her ear.

…...

They touch down in Ohio several hours later. As they walk through the terminal, Kurt squeals loudly in happiness as he sees Blaine stood holding a sign with their names on, it was covered with gold stars all over it. Rachel and her dads laugh as he runs over to him and hugs him tightly, before they follow over slowly.

As they get closer, they see that Finn is stood there smiling at them sheepishly. Rachel feels her stomach drop as she sees him, and as he turns from looking at Kurt and Blaine, who are now talking softly to one another, he gives her his trademark half-smile and she gulps. In the past when she saw him smile at her like that, she would go weak at the knees and her heart would be beat twice as fast. This time was different, she looked at him and felt none of that; in fact she felt uncomfortable having him here. Why had he come? She broke up with him nearly two months ago now, he didn't have a reason to come and meet her at the airport; especially not after she had come back from spending the best week of her life with James.

"Hey Rach" Finn said softly as they approached, LeRoy gave him a handshake before he and Hiram walked off saying something about getting their car for the journey home.

"Hi Finn" Rachel said, smiling as she tried to sound happy to see him. "I didn't know you were coming?"

"Well…" Finn replies, rubbing the back of his neck. "Blaine was coming to surprise Kurt…and his cars not big enough for all his luggage. I thought my truck would be better"

"That's nice of you" Rachel said smiling, glad that he hadn't given her another reason; one with more romantic reasoning for her.

"I wanted to see you as well…"Finn said and took a step closer to her. "I missed you this summer"

Rachel smiled half-heartedly before he reached down and pulled her into an embrace, his arms reaching around her waist as she returned it politely, placing her arms on his. He lingered a bit longer than she thought appropriate considering that they were nothing more than friends, but luckily he pulled away when Kurt spoke.

"So, what am I? Invisible here?" Kurt says as Finn grinned before giving him a huge bear hug. As he pulled away, Kurt was out of breath.

"I missed you two, little brother" Finn said smiling. They stood around talking for around ten minutes before her dads came back and told them they should go. Blaine and Kurt walked arm in arm, as her Dads walked in front leaving her walking awkwardly next to Finn. Him being the gentlemen she knew, had taken some of her luggage and was leaving her with only a few smaller bags.

As they walked, she couldn't but smile. She was back home in Ohio, and she would see her friends soon enough. There was just the overriding sensation that something was missing, and that particular something was a young man with incredibly cute fluffy black hair. Rachel found herself wishing that he was walking next to her, instead of Finn. She bit her lip as she glanced at him, unsure of how to bring up the topic of James with him. She hoped that he didn't have any idea of trying to win her back because that would make the conversation much worse than it had to be. He must have sensed something was wrong because he touched her shoulder softly.

"Are you okay?" Finn asks, a concerned look on his face. She tried her best to smile at him as they paused outside the airport.

"Yeah, just tired from the flight" Rachel said and smiled at him

"Not too tired, I hope" Blaine says grinning. She and Kurt look at him confusedly as Finn joins him with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asks

"Well, the glee club is all meeting up tonight at Puck's" Finn replies, and Rachel finds herself girnning. She couldn't wait to see Tina and Mercedes again. Noah was someone she had found herself missing as well as the weeks had gone by. Jake was similar in many regards to him, but there was nothing quite like the original.

"I've missed him so much, all of the glee kids" Rachel says happily.

"Yeah he wanted to come, but his pool cleaning business has really taken off this summer" Finn responds, as they load their bags into the two cars. "We're meeting around six"

Rachel nods as they all hug one more time, before she climbs into the back of her dads car. Finn, waves at her as they drive off. When they pull out of the airport carpack, she lets out a heavy sigh. That had been harder than she thought it would be, thanks to Finns surprise appearance. She didn't think he would come, and as she thought about how she was going to tell him about James, her phone buzzed with a message from Kurt.

_Sorry! Didn't know Finn was coming. I know that was awkward for you_

Rachel smiled as she read the text, before sending a quick reply telling him that it was okay. She knows that Kurt would never have kept something like that from her if he had known. He had been surprisingly supportive of her decision to breakup with his step-brother, agreeing with the reasoning behind it. She sighed as her dads asked her a question.

"It was nice of Finn to come meet you at the airport" Hiram said tentatively, looking back at her in the backseat. She smiled at him slightly.

"I didn't know he was…but it was nice" Rachel said softly, biting her lip.

"Does he…" LeRoy asked, pausing for a few moments. "Does Finn know about what has happened in New York…between you and James?"

"No…" Rachel sighed out, leaning her head back against the car seat.

"You need to tell him sweetie" LeRoy added gently, and Rachel nodded still not looking at him.

She knew that she had too, her dads weren't helping in that regard. This was a difficult matter, how could she tell the guy that she had been in love with for so long that she had met someone else over the summer. She didn't know if Finn had accepted her decision and moved on, but she knew that he still had feelings for her; if he loved her as much as he told her a few months ago then she had a feeling that it wouldn't have vanished just because she hadn't been around for a few weeks.

Her thoughts drifted off to this summer as she smiled. Her thoughts were lingering on James as they pulled into her driveway. She hopped out of the car, helping her dads to unload the bags. Thirty minutes later, Rachel was sat on her bed looking around her room. She smiled, she hadn't been in this room for a month but nothing had changed. She didn't really know what she had expected would be the case; no one had been in her room so nothing would have changed or been moved about. Rachel sighed, she just felt like even though she was glad to be home; there was something not quite right about it. Her eyes lingered on a picture that was sat on her dressing table. It was a picture of her and Finn from the summer before. They were by the lake at were clearly happily in love with one another. Finding herself standing in front of it, she reached out and picked it up. Smiling sadly, Rachel opened the top drawer and placed it face down inside, putting the memories to the back of her mind as she walked into the bathroom to get ready for the glee club party.

….

A few hours later, and Rachel was walking arm in arm with Kurt and Blaine on either side of her. they had come to hers half an hour earlier before they all headed to Puck's together. Blaine had been charming and complimented her on the look. Kurt had simply stood there with a smug on his face; nodding slowly before saying something about his work was almost complete with her. She was wearing a red poker dot dress, with white high heels on her. She hadn't done anything special with her hair, just pulled it back in a loose bun at the top of her head with her bangs framing her face. Along the way, Rachel had told Blaine about her summer in New York; he was eager to get her point of view after hearing Kurt's. He didn't mention anything, but Rachel had a feeling that Kurt had filled him on James. Blaine asked about the friends she had made as they walked up Puck's street.

"And Kurt tells me some of them are from Oregon?" Blaine asks with a smile that Rachel sees is secretly sly as he glances at Kurt who is wearing a smirk on his face.

"Yeah" Rachel nodded, smiling softly. If he was going to try and play around with her, she wasn't going to let up so easily. She felt a slight amount of anger at Kurt for telling Blaine, she wanted to keep her relationship with James secret for now; at least until she could find a way to tell Finn. She couldn't blame Kurt though, he was happy for her and she couldn't expect him to lie to Blaine on her behalf. She knew what it was like for someone you love to lie to you. "A few of them. A couple are from California and the others are from Carmel"

"That's nice, tell me about these ones from Oregon though" Blaine said and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well Matt is really sweet. A bit of jerk at times but he's really great" Rachel replied; smiling "Lucy is his girlfriend, and she's a bit like Quinn. Blonde, very pretty but a lot nicer"

Rachel paused for a moment, as they walked in silence for a few moments. She felt her chest tighten as she thought about him. "And then there's James…he's…."

"Your boyfriend?" Blaine added, raising an eyebrow as Kurt giggled next to him. Rachel smiled at them before she punched them both on the shoulder.

"Kurt…." Rachel moaned, exasperated. "You told him"

"I'm sorry, but I just had to" Kurt said apologetically although he knew that she was fine with it.

"I'm really happy for you Rachel" Blaine said as they walked up the path to Puck's house. "You deserve to be with someone who treats you correctly, especially after all that happened last year"

Rachel grinned and pulled him into a hug as they knocked on Puck's front door. She bit her lip as they stood there, before she spoke "Thank you, and I really like him. He's so amazing. Not to mention hot, and cute and stop me when I get too carried away"

"Oh don't worry about it. He sounds great and I can't wait to meet him" Blaine said, Rachel grinned and before she could respond someone interrupted them.

"Meet who?" Came a voice as they turned to see the door open to reveal Finn. He was stood wearing a blue shirt, and his half smile as he gazed at her. Rachel stood there awkwardly for a moment before Blaine came to her rescue.

"Some guy that Kurt met while they were in New York" Blaine said smiling, patting Finn's shoulder as they walked into the house. Finn hung back and hugged her before they walked into the house heading towards the lounge. As soon as she walked into the room, Rachel quickly headed towards Puck who pulled her into a gigantic bear hug; when he put her down she kissed his cheek as he rubbed her shoulders.

"I missed you my hot little jewish princess" Puck smirked, as he released her. She hugged him gently once again.

"I missed you two Noah" Rachel replied before heading to get reacquainted with the other glee clubs members.

She had spent the first half an hour being passed around the glee club as each of them hugged and welcomed her home. Rachel was a little surprised at the fact that even Santana had greeted her warmly. When she had left Ohio for the New York, Santana had still been furious about the fact her and Finn ruined nationals for the club. She pondered the strangeness of hugging Santana before Noah called her attention and she spent a quarter of an hour telling him brief bits of her time in New York while Finn stood near listeneing.

An hour and a half later, Rachel was sat with Blaine, Mercedes, Tina and Kurt. They had been discussing how excited they were to go back to McKinley in a couple of weeks; sharing ideas that they had for new songs that could help them win Sectionals. Rachel was so happy to be in Ohio. She had fun with the guys in New York, but there was something perfect about being around the people she had spent the last two years of her life with.

"You haven't told us much about New York" Tina asked, as there was a lull in the conversation. Rachel took a drink as she smiled.

"There's a lot to tell I guess. We were there for a month" Rachel replied. "I met a ton of people. The classes were amazing, I feel like I have a whole new respect for myself. Spending the summer with people are as talented as me made me realize how hard I need to work to achieve what I want"

"They were all as good as you?" Artie asked, a look of shock in his face. Rachel nodded.

Kurt sat with a knowing look on his face. "Some were even better"

"That's really scary...dozens of Rachel's and Kurt's" Mercedes replied giggling.

They were laughing loudly, and Rachel gazed around the room. Puck, Finn and Mike were stood drinking and talking; she couldn't but smile. He looked happy, and she was glad that he hadn't been caught up on her all summer, from what she had heard he had been working at Burt's to try and get some money saved up for college. He glanced over as she was watching him. She gulped under his gaze, and he gave her a smile. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, as he caught her gaze; she quickly looked away to see that Mercedes and Tina were watching her.

"He missed you this summer" Tina said said simply. That snapped Rachel's attention fully back from her daydream.

"Who?" She asked softly, trying to play ignorant. She didn't want to get into this conversation.

"Who do you think? Finn of course" Mercedes replied. Rachel smiled slightly.

"Did he bring it up with you yet?" Artie asked, she glanced at Kurt with worried eyes.

"Bring what up?" Kurt intercepted the question

"You two getting back together?" Mercedes replied. Rachel closed her eyes. If they were right and Finn wanted to get back together then that was going to make her conversation really awkward for both of them.

"No...and I don't want him to either" Rachel said softly, noticing the raised eyebrows and confused expressions on their faces. Eager to finish this conversation. She hadn't thought of how to tell Finn and certainly didn't want to discuss it with these guys first. "Can we just...drop it please? I don't want to talk about this"

"Wait...you're not going to get back together with him?" Tina asked, a surprised tone in her voice. "I know that you two broke up...but I didn't think that was it. What happened?"

"Nothing I've just realised that I don't want to be in a relationship with him any more" Rachel replied, feeling a tear welling in her eye.

"Wow...we always thought that you two would be endgame. That'd you would always be the one for each other..."

"Things changed" Rachel said as a tear leaked from her eye. Tina opened her mouth to question further when Kurt interupted.

"Just leave it alone" He said firmly, Rachel nodded and stood up and went into Noah's kitchen to calm herself down.

When she walked into the kitchen, she leant against the counter and wiped her eyes. Staring at her feet she took several deep breaths to calm herself. She wasn't really mad at the fact that they were questioning her; she knew where they were coming from. Her and Finn always seemed to have the inevitability to being together; something she herself had always believed in. It took meeting James to change her mind on that and of course the glee kids couldn't understand that when they didn't even know about him.

"Hey Rachel...is everything okay?" Rachel heard Finn's voice. Gulping she raised her head and looked at him as he stared at her with concerned eyes. Frustrated she nodded and tried to walk past him, but he gripped her arm gently and she spun to face him.

"Get off me" She said a little more viciously than she intended.

"Woah" He replied releasing her arm quickly. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure that you're okay"

"I'm fine Finn. Really" She replied, wiping the tear from her cheek. She just wanted to get out of the room.

"Okay" He said sceptically. "Listen, its really great to have you back. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime next week? You know as friends...get reacquainted"

"Fine, that sounds nice" She said, smiling and started to walk out the room.

"Monday?"

Rachel turned and she nodded at him, a blank expression on her face. She then headed back into the lounge and saw Kurt and Blaine stood talking to Mercedes. Kurt waved her over. As she reached them Mercedes pulled her into a hug that Rachel returned before looking at her with a strange expression as they pulled apart.

"What was that for?" Rachel asked confused, Kurt looked at her apologetically

"I told her about James" Kurt admitted and Rachel looked at him with a hurt expression.

"What? Why-"

"I shouldn't have pressured you about Finn" Mercedes interrupted. "I was worried about you and he told me. I'm happy for you"

"Thanks..." Rachel replied smiling softy. "I promise I'll tell you about him next week...I just wanted to get through tonight and figure out how I'm going to tell Finn"

"I understand" Mercedes says smiling at Rachel. "Now come on, tell me about New York"

Rachel giggled, before launching into an animated explanation about her time this summer. She was the happiest she'd been today, talking about all the classes she'd attended at NYADA and Julliard. She couldn't help but grin as she talked about the people she and Kurt had met. She explained a brief amount about James and how she had met him; Mercedes knew not to push it too much with who was about and Rachel kept it simple.

"Well, he sounds really great" Mercedes smiled, and Rachel blushed bowing her head shyly.

"Yeah he is" Rachel replied softly. "He's actually coming to visit next week"

Mercedes eyebrows raised as Rachel giggled at her reaction. "Really?"

"Mhmm" Rachel nodded, "I'm going to show him around, and introduce him to everyone. I should have spoken to Finn by then"

"Any ideas about how you're going to do that" Blaine asked as he chewed on a breadstick.

Kurt and her shared a glance and he smiled at her. A lot of what had happened in the past about between them had been down to lack of honesty. In this case, she knew that being frank and honest with him about what was going to happen between them was the best.

"Honesty" Rachel said smiling sadly. Mercedes nodded, and Blaine squeezed her hand gently.

The party went on for another couple of hours, as the glee kids enjoyed welcoming back Rachel and Kurt from New York. It didn't take long before some karaoke took place. Always eager to perform, Rachel sung with Kurt; as well as with Puck and some of the others. Eventually the party died down as people started to leave. Rachel again shared an embrace with Finn as her, Blaine and Kurt left; as she reassured him that they would meet up and talk during the next few days. Blaine and Kurt walked her home, bidding her farewell as well as saying goodnight to her Dads.

Rachel talked with them for a little while as they watched a talent show as they did every night on a Saturday. Rachel giggled as the judges criticized a particularly bad contestant who was auditioning. Her thoughts drifted off to James, remembering how he had told her about how he loved these types of programmes and she smiled at the thought. Leroy had just come into the room and handed her a mug of hot chocolate when her phone rang. Hiram was sat nearest the coffee table where it had been placed when she came in the door, and as he picked it up a smile grew on his lips. Handing it to her he winked, and as she took it; the picture of her and James was visible causing her to smile widely. Jumping off the sofa she went into the kitchen, eager to talk to him alone.

"Oh my god, I'm so happy you called" Rachel practically yelled as she answered the phone; giggling when she heard the laughter on the other end.

"Wow, someone misses me" James teased, and Rachel couldn't help but bite her lip.

"I do…don't you miss me?" Rachel asks, and she hears him sigh out.

"Of course I do" He responds quietly. "I missed the sound of your voice…are you oaky?"

"I'm better now you called me" Rachel replied, feeling her eyes beginning to start to well with tears. She really did feel better talking to him. She'd just had to sit through a party in the presence of the guy she didn't want to be close to while James was so far away. Sniffing, she tried to stop herself from tearing up. "How was your day?"

"It was good. We went to watch a couple of really bad comedy films…then my mom cooked us dinner" James replied and she could hear that he was trying to sound happy for her; but he wasn't truly, the same way she wasn't. "What about you? Break in to any spontaneous song and dance with Kurt?"

Rachel laughed, and her heart fluttered at the sound of him laughing with down the phone. Even when he was down and upset; James was trying to do the best to cheer her up. "Maybe one or two."

"Did you get to see your friends again?"

"Yeah, the glee club had a party at Noah's house" Rachel said still smiling. James remained silent and she realised that he may not remember exactly who she was talking about. "I called him Puck when I told you about him. He's the one that Jake reminded me off"

"Oh right" He replied, and she giggled as he continued "The douche who is in love with himself…at least that's Jake"

"Something like that" Rachel said smiling happily to herself. "But it was fun to see them again. It's been a month since I last did, and it just feels so strange. I kept looking around half expecting you or Matt to be there"

"I wish I was…" He said softly, and she felt her heart flutter again at how gentle his voice was. He didn't respond for a few seconds and she smiled relieved when he muttered out a response. "I'm glad you had a good time babe."

"Me too" Rachel replied smiling, "It'll be even better when you're here next week. I'm going to start on a formal plan tomorrow for us."

As he laughed down the phone, and she joined in, Rachel knew that she had cheered him up; just as he had her. When he spoke again he his voice sounded more upbeat and warm as they talked for a further hour, during which time her Dads came in and told her they were going to bed. Eventually she found herself lying on her back on her bed staring up at the ceiling as she listened to James telling him about the was past midnight by the time they stopped talking.

"Well…I should go; let you get to your moisturising routine before its too late" He said, and Rachel laughed.

"Thank you, and you need to get to sleep for your flight tomorrow" Rachel said

"I'll call you in the morning when we get to the airport…going to have some spare time to pass before our flight" James said, as she heard a door close; he had obviously just headed into his room.

"Okay" Rachel replied and she bit her lip as she thought through calling him Baby. He had called it her, and she felt as though she wanted to say it to him; almost as a right of passage in their relationship that she was comfortable with him as he was with her. "Sleep tight baby"

He paused for a moment, and Rachel smiled as she swore she could hear him grin through the phone. He finally responded in the gentle, soft voice that made her heart flutter. "Goodnight Rachel"

Hanging up the phone, Rachel sighed happily; glad that she been able to talk to him tonight. The party at Noah's had left her a little disconcerted about being back home. But thanks to James being that amazing guy, simply hearing his voice and listening to him talk had calmed her and she felt relaxed about being back home.

….


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Rachel's second day back in Lima was much more enjoyable than her first by a large margin. Waking up in her own bed was a pleasant surprise after sleeping in a hotel bed in New York for the last month. She had enjoyed sleeping there, it wasn't as if it wasn't a comfortable bed but there was something reassuring and safe about her own. The safety factor in knowing that she had slept in it for so many years allowed her to sleep sounder than she thought would be possible. When she woke, Rachel wanted to start to get her routine back to normal as soon as possible. It was strange to wake up and not head off to NYADA or Julliard to meet up with James and her other friends for their daily activities. She couldn't help but feel comfortable at being home in Ohio. It was so different from how she'd spent the last month, but it was nice to be home. After her morning routine, she ate breakfast with her Dads before Leroy left for work.

"What are you planning on doing today sweetie?" Hiram asked, as they were washing up together. Rachel smiled up at him as she dried a dish.

"I'm going to hang out with Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine" Rachel said, drying her hands and placing the dishcloth on the side.

"That sounds nice" Hiram says smiling at her, as he hugs her. "I'm going to do some shopping before your Dad gets home. Have a good day sweetheart"

Rachel headed up to her room, grabbing her handbag and placing some things into it that she would need. Skipping down the stairs, Rachel headed out the door; saying goodbye to her dad one more time before she left. As she walked down the driveway to her car, she called Kurt to let him know that she was on her way to the Lima Bean now.

A little while later and she was walking into the coffee shop, arm in arm with Kurt as Mercedes and Blaine walked on either side of them. As they stood in line for their order, Rachel smiled as she remembered going to get coffee with James in New York. He would always insist on paying for her; even after only know her for a couple of days. Smiling, Rachel paid for her coffee and the four of them walked over to sit in a corner booth.

They talked for a while, Blaine and Mercedes telling them about how they had spent their summers; going into more detail than they had at the party the night before. Blaine had been spending a lot of time with the warblers singing at various different community centres. Aside from his frequent skype movie calls with Kurt, he had been spending more time with some of the New Directions as well; mainly Tina and Mercedes.

"So Mercedes…what really happened between you and Sam this summer. You two were getting really close before summer…especially after prom" Kurt asks, smirking. Rachel bites her lip as she listens, glad for once that the relationship talk wasn't on her.

"We were" Mercedes replies, "It was nice to spend time with someone who cares about me, but it's over now. His dad got a job back home in Tennessee and they moved. It was just a summer fling"

Rachel smile faded as she heard Mercedes see that. Her mind raced as she thought about her and James. Mercedes and Sam had a relationship over the summer, but he had moved away; much in the way James was back home in Oregon. Shaking her head, she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She and James both had agreed that they would stay together and make their relationship work. Smiling, she returned her attention to their conversation. They started talking about New York, as they explained a bit more about their classes and the people they met.

"So come on tell me about this James" Mercedes said, looking at Rachel. Rachel giggled and was about to open her mouth when her phone rang. Pulling it out, she grinned as she saw the photo on the display. Turning it around and showing them; she giggled as she saw the roll of Kurt's eyes.

"Is that him?" Blaine asks, Rachel nods as she answers it

"Cute" Mercedes says in the background as she laughs answering the phone. Kurt raises his eyebrows up and down.

"Hey…what's funny" Rachel heard James down the phone, amusement in his voice.

"James…We were just talking about you" She said grinning widely.

"All good I hope" James responds. "You doing okay beautiful?"

"Yeah, I'm fine baby" Rachel spoke in a tender loving voice, biting her lip, Mercedes mouth opened in surprise at hearing Rachel speak so affectionately. Blaine laughed at her, and Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"I like it when you call me that" He replied, and Rachel felt her cheeks blush madly.

"I like saying it" Rachel said smirking, and she frowned when she heard a announcement in the background. "You okay? Where are you?"

"Relax, apart from missing you like crazy. I'm okay babe" James said laughing softly. "I'm at the airport. Our flights in an hour and I wanted to call you"

"Are Matt and Lucy there?" Rachel asks, taking a drink of her coffee; licking her lips.

"No they're not, they got an earlier flight" James responded, "My mom's grabbing some last minute things. I'm sat in the middle of Starbucks drinking coffee and watching sports on my phone"

"I'm sat having coffee with Blaine, Kurt and Mercedes" Rachel said, feeling a smile cross her face "There's a strange coincidence between us. Our schedules are synced up perfectly"

"I don't think its that's strange…I mean we did spend so much time together this summer. I guess we just got used to certain things" James said, Rachel finding herself nodding as he spoke.

"Yeah, it's nice to think even though we're so far away that we are still connected" Rachel said sighing happily. "I should let you go, I need to stop ignoring these guys now I think. They're pulling faces at me"

James laughed down the phone, and she joined in giggling happily. "yeah, me too. I think I see my mom coming to find me anyway"

"Can you call me tonight?" Rachel asks softly.

"I'd like to, but our flight gets in late" James replies, and she can hear the sadness in his voice. "My house is an hour or so away from the airport as well. By time I get home it'll be…well I don't want to make you stay up too late for me. I know how you like to be in bed early to get enough sleep"

"I don't mind waiting up" Rachel responds. She's not sure that she's ready to go to sleep without talking him tonight. The previous week they had been hanging out till late; and the couple weeks beforehand they had been talking on the phone or texting before she went to sleep.

"Yeah, but I mind you waiting up" James said and she nodded feeling a little disappointed. "I'll call you in the morning alright"

"Okay…I'll miss talking to you" Rachel said her voice sounding upset and vulnerable. Kurt placed his hand on her arm and squeezed softly.

"Hey…please don't cry. I hate it when you do" James replied, and Rachel sniffed, mouthing a thank you to Kurt. She smiled sadly at James' next words; "I miss you"

"I miss you too" Rachel replied, wiping her eye with her sleeve. "I'll talk to you in the morning"

"Bye Baby" James replied softly before he hung up. Rachel stared at her phone for a few seconds before placing it in her bag and turning her attention back to the three of them with her; taking a sip of her coffee.

"So that was James?" Mercedes asked, smiling reassuringly at her. Rachel nodded

"Yeah" She replied softly

"Has he left New York yet?" Kurt asked.

"Not yet…his flight leaves in about an hour" Rachel said gently. "He's getting home late so he isn't going to call me tonight"

"You two…you sound pretty serious" Mercedes replied. "I mean, how long have you known him?"

"A month…and I know what you're going to say but I've heard it from Kurt and some of James' friends as well" Rachel said softly, frowning. "We're going to make it work, even when he is so far away"

"Sorry I didn't mean it like that" Mercedes said, "I'm really happy for you, I can see just from that phone call he makes you feel great. You've never smiled that widely at seeing someone call you before"

"Thanks…I just get so frustrated about being reminded that he isn't here" Rachel replied, "I miss him, and it makes it even worse knowing that I've got to try and find a way to tell Finn as well. Its just so hard"

"Don't think about that now" Blaine said gently, squeezing her hand. "Tell us about James and how you two met"

Rachel spent a while talking to the three in the Lima Bean, telling them about how she and James had met this summer. She started off with their awkward impromptu meeting as they waited on the first day of the summer programme. They laughed when Kurt told them that she refused to admit that she was attracted to him at first, despite the fact that he saw the two of them looking at one another, Rachel looking as if she was in love with him. Rachel smiled, and then admitted about how she was mesmerized by his brown eyes and had struggled to find her voice when James had said hello to her. Blaine and Mercedes both agreed that it was fate when she told them about how she'd been out into the same group as him for the first few weeks if summer at Julliard.

She moved on and told them about how as the weeks went on, her and James become closer to one another. They went from simply sharing classes to going for lunch and coffee together and texting each other all the time.

"I think he saw more of her than I did this summer, you became inseparable"

Rachel blushed furiously as Kurt told them about how awkward they were when saying goodbye to each other at the end if the day.

"They would both stand there and just look at each other in silence" Kurt replied laughing slightly "then one of them would lean in and hug the other. They'd both have the biggest, silliest smiles on their faces. This was before they started dating, like when we watched videos of nationals, she was literally sat in his lap as we did. That's when her dads walked in"

"Kurt! We weren't sat that close" Rachel said defensively but she carried a smile on her face as she remembered being close to him, how good his arms felt and how amazing he smelt.

"So when did you two get serious about being a couple?" Blaine asks

"Well there was a party that the programme put on at Callbacks, that's a karaoke bar that all the NYADA students go to, and he asked me to go with him as his date. We'd be skirting around the issue for a few days, after we talked about our pasts things my feelings started to become more romantic towards him, I felt a real connection with him" Rachel smiled

"That's really really sweet" Blaine said and Rachel blushed, remembering what came after James had asked her out.

"That's when we shared our first kiss" Rachel sighed happily; "That night at Callbacks was amazing, it felt so natural and right to be there with him as his girlfriend"

"What's it like to kiss him?" Blaine asks and Rachel laughs at the Kurt gives him a horrified expression "Oh relax Kurt I'm just curious"

"It's amazing. He's such a sweet guy and it shows in every part of him. He kisses me with so much tenderness. He makes me feel completely appreciated" Rachel replies "it's unlike anyway I've been kissed before: it's incredible"

"I think I need to kiss him" Blaine says teasingly winking at Kurt

"Over my dead body" Kurt exclaims and they al laugh.

"I think your forgetting he's mine and I'm the only one he'll be kissing when he comes to visit next week" Rachel giggles

Rachel spent the next half hour telling them about that night and then rest of the week they were together. By the end as she told them about the conversation they had at the restaurant Mercedes had a year in her eye and Blaine and Kurt both looked emotional.

"Wow Rachel it sounds like you too really care for each other" Blaine "I'm so happy for you and I want it to work between you; I have no doubt you can make it work"

"Thanks Blaine" Rachel says smiling, her own eyes a little bit wetter than before. "I know we can"

"Whatever happens after you tell Finn, we'll support you Rachel" Mercedes replied and Rachel squeezed her hand thankfully.

...

After they were done in the coffee store after talking for a little while long; the three of them decided that they would go for a walk together talking about less emotional and serious matters; simply enjoying being together. The three from McKinley were looking forward to heading back to school in a couple of weeks. The summer had given the kids that hadn't gone to New York time to think over what had happened at nationals the year before, and as Mercedes explained they had agreed to put it behind them; that blaming Rachel and Finn wouldn't accomplish anything and they weren't completely alone for their failure to win.

"I wondered why Santana was being friendly to me at Noah's last night" Rachel had mentioned thoughtfully.

"Yeah, she understands that you and Finn were sorry about what happened. In fact, Finn spent a lot of time talking to her and Santana is over it. I mean, she was really angry and refused to talk to anyone but Brittany for a few weeks after you left but...we're a family and we forgive one another" Mercedes replied smiling, as Rachel nodded happily.

"Finn spoke to Santana?" Kurt asked surprised. "He was really mad with her for what happened between him and you Rachel"

"He'll probably tell you himself, and I don't mean this as me recommending you get back together with Finn, but he has spent a lot of time this summer going over what happened. He's realised how he treated you was wrong and wants to make amends" Mercedes has said softly, and Rachel had sighed. She didn't want Finn to spend this summer thinking about her or how to win her back. She had wanted him to spend it worrying about himself; that way they could both move on; but she wasn't going to be upset at the fact he had taken responsibility for his actions. Him acting like a leader, and being a man was one of the reasons she had loved in the past.

"I'm happy for him" Rachel said simply and the three of them kept talking with one another.

Around six o'clock they said their goodbyes and Rachel found herself walking through the front door of her house a quarter of an hour later to find her dad's sat in the living room listening to some soft jazz music.

"Hi Sweetheart, did you have a nice day?" LeRoy asked as she walked in

"Hey Dad" she said kissing him kn the cheek before walking over to her other dad and doing the same "Daddy. I did, it was nice to spend some alone time with my best friends"

"We're glad sweetie, you look happier as well" Hiram remarked and Rachel smiles widely at him "Dinner will be ready in a little bit dear "

She spent twenty minutes or so talking to her dads about her day before they got up and set the table. As they were eating her dads talked about LeRoys day at work while as absentminded ate her food. Her thoughts were dwelling on how she was going to tell Finn about her and James. She knew that honesty would be the best policy; but that didn't make it any easier to actually find the words to say it outloud. By the sounds of what she had heard from various glee club members over the past few days, Finn had spent a lot of time thinking over how to make things right between the two of them. If that meant that he wanted to get back together with her, then she had to be prepared to hurt him again. She thought that calling time on their relationship before the summer had been the end of it. She must have been looking sad because her dad's interrupted their conversation to ask her if she was okay

"You okay sweetie?"

"Yeah just got a lot on my mind" she supplied a lame excuse and immediately she knew they didn't buy it.

"Rachel? Are you sure? We love you and we can tell when there is something bothering you" Smiling slightly at how well her Dads could recognize when she was down, Rachel sighed before she explained.

"We know it'll be hard, baby girl, but you'll feel better once you speak to the boy" Hiram said smiling reassuringly

"Have you spoken to James today?" Leroy asked and Rachel immediately felt a smile cross her face, thanking her Dad for knowing how to try and cheer her up.

"Yeah, he called while I was out with Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes" Rachel said chewing her bottom lip softly "We didn't talk for long because his flight was leaving in a little hit but even if it was only for a little while it was nice"

"I bet you were happy to hear his voice? We know it must be hard sweetie" Hiram asked tenderly

"Yeah it was. I can't wait to speak to him tomorrow morning" Rachel said smiling

"He isn't calling you tonight?" Leroy asked raising an eyebrow "You too speak every night"

"No his plane gets in late and he told me not to wait up: he knows how important my sleep is too me" Rachel said happily: looking back on it. while she had been upset at the time about not talking to him tonight, James had been very sweet when he told her

"I knew we were right to like that boy" Hiram said and the three of them laughed.

"I'm really glad you get on with him" Rachel said softly "It means a lot to me"

"We know sweetie" Leroy replied before she kissed both of them on the cheek.

After helping her Dads clear up from dinner, Rachel watched TV with them for around an hour before she went up to her room at around ten; kissing them goodnight. Intending to spend some time chatting to people on Facebook, Rachel ran through her routine and after her Dads brought her evening tea, she sat at her computer. Smiling, she saw that Kelsie as well as Jake from Vocal Adrenaline were online. Eager to catch up with them; she ended up speaking with them for around an hour asking them about their flights and if they were excited to be back home. The two of them returned the question and thankfully neither brought up James. A little while later she logged off and led in bed, sending James a goodnight text before she led her head down on her pillow and fell into her dreams


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Rachel awoke the next morning to the sun peeking through her curtains as she stretched out like a cat across her bed before wiping the sleep from eyes. This was the second time she had woken up in her own bed, and it was just like the previous morning; Rachel falling into the routine she had done before New York, starting to being comfortable waking up in her own house.

Sitting up in bed, she leaned over and turned off her alarm before shifting to the edge of her bed picking up her phone; wiping her eyes as she glanced at the screen. She grinned as she saw several messages from James on her phone. One of them was replying to her goodnight text, the second letting her know that his plane had landed and the final one was sent when he arrived home. She wondered why the sound of her phone going off as she received a text hadn't woken her up during the night. Shrugging, she decided that now she wanted to talk to him right away; falling asleep without talking to him had felt strange despite how soundly she had ended up sleeping. Biting her lip, Rachel brought up his number and called him eager to talk to him. It rang several times, and Rachel was nervous he wasn't going to pick up, and just as she considered putting the phone down he picked up.

"Mhmm" His voice came down the phone groggily. She found the sound of hearing him this morning was strange, the huskiness and how rough it sounded were incredibly attractive to her ears, never having heard him this early in the morning before she find herself biting her lip "Hello?"

"Hey…" Rachel replied softly as she then realised what time it was. His flight had gotten in late and she just now realised that he hadn't been sleeping all that long. Her excitement at wanting to call him had overwritten her sensibility.

"It's really early…" He said, and she could tell that he was stretching and yawning as he spoke. "Is everything okay Rachel?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry baby" Rachel said affectionately. "I saw your messages from last night...and...and I couldn't wait to ring you. I'm really sorry, it's really early and I know that you didn't get much sleep last night. I was just really excited…"

"Don't worry about it" James replied, his voice still groggy. "I'm not mad at you, I'm tired but its alright. I'm glad you called I miss you and its nice to hear your voice"

Rachel smiled, standing up and walking into her bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she stood smiling brushing her hair out of her face. "I missed you too. How was your flight?"

"It was alright…I don't like flying at night that much. I always get tired and I can never sleep on planes" James said, and she heard him shifting in his bed; probably to sit up, as she heard him yawn another time. "It was alright though, they were showing some films that I haven't watched for a while so that helped to pass the time"

"I love planes, but I think it would have been better if I'd have you to cuddle up against" Rachel said softly, she really did miss the feel of her arms around her as well the scene that she had found extremely comforting.

"I miss holding you" James said sadly and Rachel sighed. Her eyes welled with tears as she thought about how far away they were and what Mercedes had told her about her relationship about Sam. James must have sense something wrong.

"This is too depressing talk for so early in the morning" James said and Rachel couldn't help but laugh; glad that he knew just by the sound of her voice when she was upset. "Hey, did I ever tell you that we flew to New York for nationals like a week beforehand so I wouldn't be tired and I'd be prepared enough to perform"

"Really?" Rachel asked teasingly

"Yeah, I still get crap from the guys about that" He replied "They are so mean to me"

Rachel laughed at him, as she walked back into her bedroom sitting back down on her bed. "You're so cute"

"I'm not as cute as you are" James replied, and she heard him smirking as he spoke. "What are you doing today?"

"I'm going to spend some time with Finn later" She said softly, trying to gauge his reaction. He was silent for a few long moments before she decided to speak again. "James? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry I'm just taking in what you said" James replied his voice seemed as if he was fully awake now "So you're spending time with him today...right…are you going to be with Kurt or some of your friends? Or are you going to be alone with him?"

"Alone" Rachel said, and she heard him sigh down the phone. Speaking with a firmer tone than she normally would do; in fact she'd never spoken in this way to him before. "James...don't be like that. Don't get worried about what's going on here. I know that you don't like the idea of me and him spending time together, but he is my friend"

"Does he know about us yet?" James said softly, but she knew that he still wasn't happy with the idea. They'd spoken about their past relationships this summer and she knew that while he was okay with the fact that she would always have some feelings for Finn; he was her first love; but she had a feeling that he still didn't want her to spend too much time with him.

"No" Rachel replied, and before he could reason she spoke quickly; "That's the reason I want to spend some time with him. We haven't been alone with another since I broke up with him before summer"

"I'm sorry" James said in an incredibly tender apologetic tone, she could hear the truthfulness in his voice. "I don't mean to be so crazy...I'm just tired, you know I trust your right?"

"I know" Rachel replied, "I'll let you get back to sleep. Sorry again for waking you up early"

"I told you that it's alright. I don't mind you waking me up, I just like hearing your voice " James said and she couldn't help but smile. "I'll call you tonight. I'm meeting up with a few of my friends, but just call me if you need me"

"I will" Rachel replied softly, smiling at how he understanding he was being. She appreciated the fact that he understood she needed to talk to Finn about the future of their friendship. "Have a good time hanging around with your friends baby"

"You too" James replied "Bye"

Rachel said gently, "Goodnight"

She laughed as she heard him snicker down the phone, to which he laughed at saying it was too early in the morning for a goodnight. Bidding him goodbye, she hung up and put her phone back down on top of her bedside cabinet.

...

Falling backwards on her bed, she tilted her head and glanced at her alarm. She decided that she would alter her morning routine after spending a while talking to James she would skip using her elliptical. Though she would normally hate to change some of her early morning routine; it had been worth it talking to James. She knew that he trusted her to talk to Finn, but she still felt happy that he was okay with her spending time with Finn. That reassurance that he trusted her to know what she was doing was one of the reasons she cared so much for him.

Rachel had realised that he might be a upset at her seeing Finn, and really she couldn't blame James for being a little at upset at the fact she was spending time with Finn today. After all, who wouldn't be angry at the fact their girlfriend was spending time with her ex. The way he had accepted what she said was one of the reasons she cared about him. He was sweet and trusted her completely; something she appreciated immensely. As she showered and got dressed, wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans and a yellow blouse; the confidence she had gained this summer meant that she wanted to look nice but not wear anything too revealing in case of giving Finn the wrong idea about what she was spending time with him.

Half an hour later, Rachel headed downstairs and into the kitchen to be greeted by her Dads sat the table eating their breakfast. Greeting them, she poured some of her favourite bran cereal sitting down across from them. She sat listening to her dads talk about when they would like to take their end of year holiday as she thought through what she wanted to say to Finn. He had sent her a few texts the day before saying that they could take a walk around the mall and grab some lunch. Agreeing she had said that he could pick her up at around eleven. Fifteen minutes passed and she was certain of a large part of what she would say. She was in the kitchen as always as she was helping her dads clean up the dishes. She was stood with pursed lips as she was deciding on the final few parts of her speech later that day.

"You okay sweetie?" Hiram asked, causing her to look up at him and she saw concern in his eyes. "Did James not call you this morning?"

"Yeah, well no he didn't…I mean I called him and he was very tired so we didn't talk much" Rachel said smiling, his voice fresh in her mind. "No, I'm just thinking about what to say to Finn"

"Oh, yeah you're spending time with him today" Leroy asked and she nodded.

"He's coming to pick me up at eleven" Rachel said following them out of the kitchen as they headed to the front lounge. "We're going to the mall and then grab some lunch at some place"

"Alright sweetie" Leroy replied, and she hugged him. "Good luck today"

"Thanks Dad" Rachel said as she hugged Hiram, before he kissed her on the cheek "You too Daddy"

After her Dad's left, Rachel had a couple of hours to spare before Finn would arrive at her house to pick her up to spend the afternoon together. Deciding that she hadn't watched Funny Girl for over a week, since her and Kurt had watched it over at James' apartment the day before their date around sightseeing around New York.

Heading into the family room to watch it on her Dads large flat screen, Rachel put the DVD into the player before she collapsed into the couch. As she watched it, the nerves she was feeling about talking to Finn melted away; the same effect that her favourite film often had when she watched it when she was upset or troubled.

There was something about her singing along to the songs that she had spent a large part of her life worshipping and memorizing for the time she would play Fanny Brice on Broadway, her problems at the moment seemed so small compared to everything. Speaking to Finn seemed like it would be immensely difficult thing, but she found that next to the future and lay unknown to her on the road to heading to New York as she made her way to becoming a huge star on Broadway, it really wasn't going to be hard as she had talked herself into thinking it would be. She had made her decision and whatever his reaction was going to be he would have to respect it.

As the film finished, Rachel was feeling a lot of happier. Something about Barbara always calmed her, the comfort knowing she wasn't alone and that she would one day walk in her idols shoes. Looking at the clock as she walked into her room, she saw that she still had a little while longer to wait before Finn picked her up. He had text her the day before offering to drive her, and she appreciated him remembering that she enjoyed other people doing it for her; one of her many diva tendencies checking her phone she saw that he had sent her another message saying that he was setting off from his house now and he would be there in around ten minutes.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel sent a short text back saying that she'd be waiting and then headed into her adjoining bathroom, something she would be incredibly glad off when James came to visit. While she cared about him and she had told him about her moisturising routine she was not ready at all for him to see her in the morning before she had gone through her rigorous cleansing routine to make herself presentable.

Fixing her hair in the mirror, she smiled at her appearance; feeling confident that she looked good in what she was wearing, the outfit having been picked out by Kurt in New York during one of their several shopping trips. She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard a car pull up on the driveway outside her house. Heading back into her room, she made her way over to the window peaking outside to be greeted by the sight of Finn getting out of his truck and making his way towards the doorway. Glad that her dad's had carpooled this morning, one car remained on the drive thus leaving a bit further for Finn to walk to the door than if there was no car on the drive already. That gave her the time to grab her bag and head down the stairs.

...

She arrived at the foot of then stairs just at the exact moment the doorbell rang. Taking a final deep breath she opened the door and smiled widely at Finn stood on the other side.

"Hey Rachel" Finn said wearing his half smile as she watched his eyes roam up and down her body making her feel slightly uncomfortable before his eyes returned to meet hers and he added softly "Are those new clothes? You look nice"

"Thanks, and yeah they are. Kurt helped me pick them out when we were in New York this summer" Rachel replied smiling back at him, she had appreciated his kindness: there was something about Finn telling her she looked nice that always meant a lot to her "You look nice as well"

He blushed a little. He was wearing a short sleeved Fred Perry polo shirt that highlighted his toned arms. She had noticed the day she came home from New York at Noah's. He had definitely been working out this summer and appeared to have lost a bit of weight, in a good way. Feeling a little awkward about being alone with him, as he apparently was with her, there was a few moments of silence between the two of then before she broke the silence, smiling at him.

"Shall we go?"

"Yeah let's" Finn replied and stood aside to let her walk to his truck first. Opening the door for her, she climbed in and settled into her seat as he walked around the other side. She smiled as she saw that it was cleaner than she had ever seen it during the time they had been dating.

"Yeah...I know what you're thinking but I decided to clean it. It's been a mess all summer and well, not very good for us to use" Finn said and she couldn't help but giggle at him as he flashed her his trademark smile.

The thought he had put in touched her, and she wore a smile as he pulled out of the drive, that he had taken the time to clean his truck ahead of the meetup. Gulping she realised that he was putting a lot of effort into today and realised that he may be preparing himself to ask her out again. Frowning she shook her head, determined to enjoy the day before she told him about James. She told herself that he was looking forward to spending time as friends with her and so was she. While she didn't want romantic relations with him any longer, she had missed the Finn that was her friend and knew so much about her. Smiling at him as he launched into asking her about New York she was determined for then to be friends.

They talked for twenty minutes in the car about the party Noah had held at his house on Saturday night. He had asked her if she enjoyed seeing her friends again after being away from them for so long this summer. She had smiled nervously and replied that yes it was nice to see them, but she didn't think they would have missed her as much as it turned out. As they parked up at the mall parking lot, he had turned to her and gazed at her as he spoke; telling her that of course they had al missed it. Lima just wasn't the same without their gold star about. That had caused her nervousness to increase, and she had just smiled awkwardly at him before both of them jumped out of his truck.

She thought, and knew, that it was going to be difficult to talk to him but it got harder as the day panned out to try and bring up the topic of conversation with Finn about her relationship with James. She had decided in her mind that she wanted to tell him about her new boyfriend as quickly as she could but Finn being his typical self was proving to be his typical charming self. Annoyingly charming as the day went on as she grew more and more frustrated.

After that, they had spent several hours walking around the mall as they caught up with one another. Finn explained to her that he had been working at Burt's garage for the last month and half. She had heard that from Artie, but he didn't know why. Finn told her as they walked around that he was considering applying to go to college and that he wanted to have some money himself to pay for his living costs rather than rely too heavily on student loans if he did end up going to them. He told her that his mom was going to help him with his college fees, but he would still have to be in large amounts of debt if he did go to college. That was the reason he wasn't completely decided on whether or not he would end up going college. Rachel had asked him about what colleges he thought he might apply to. She was relieved when he hadn't said New York; part of her thought that he may have said it just to try and win her back trying to show he could relate to her. He had said that he'd looked at Ohio state university if he could get a football scholarship; and that he wasn't sure if he could afford to live out of state if he did go.

She was glad that he was considering college. Finn always had a low self-esteem and little really appreciation of himself. Rachel knew that he had so much more to offer than just being the quarterback of the football team. She had seen it the first time they had sung together that first time in glee club two years ago. It had been one of the reasons she had fallen in love with him, he was so oblivious to his own talent and worth that she so clearly saw that she wanted to try and help him discover just what he was worth.

...

They had talked about her summer in New York, and she was happy to tell him considering how little she got to speak to him at Noah's party; partly through her own nervousness about what he wanted from her as well as partly down to being overwhelmed by seeing all of her friends in the glee club. She spoke happily with a smile on her face about the classes and workshops she had attended, and Finn had watched her talk giving her his full attention. It was nice to see as she knew that he didn't listen to her much when they were dating. He asked her about the people she had met, if she'd made any friends and as she told him he was surprised.

"Wait...so you're friends with members of Vocal Adrenaline now?" He asked in angry voice with a frown on his face. "Don't you remember all the trouble we've had with them?"

"Yeah, they really aren't that bad once you get to know them" She had said a little frustrated with him.

"It just...seems odd to think that they're suddenly so friendly. They didn't have any problem bringing us apart the last couple of years" He had said as they walked.

"Well, I'm not saying they are all suddenly nice. The three that I have met and spent a lot of time with this summer are my friends now" Rachel said absent mindedly as they made their way to the place they were going to eat lunch. "James helped a lot with that as well. They seemed to be more open to me when I started spending time with him around them"

"Who is James?" Finn asked, and Rachel eyes widened. Gulping, she bit her lip nervously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry" Rachel said softly, trying to pass it off as nothing. That wasn't how she had intended to start their conversation about him. "What did you say?"

"I asked who this James guy is? Does he go to Carmel?" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He's my...my friend. He lives in Oregon" Rachel said, trying to sound firm voiced. She didn't want to reveal anything about James yet.

"Oh, that sucks, did you get know him well?" Finn asks, and her breathing sped up a little as she felt her eyes well slightly with tears.

"I...uh...yeah, I did" Rachel replied, smiling slightly. "He was my best friend there, apart from Kurt of course"

"Oh" Finn said softly, "That's good that you got to know some people. I know you've always struggled making friends"

She smiled at him as they went into a diner. It got harder to find the way to bring up the topic with Finn, particularly after the incident where James had already come up. While they ate lunch, there would be a lull in the conversation and she would try to bring it up; but it was as if he seemed to realize there was something she needed to talk to him about and kept finding things to distract her.

As they made their way back to his car, Rachel decided and steeled herself to tell him on the way home as he dropped her off. They sat in silence for a good five minutes, Rachel chewing her lip softly as she tried to find the courage to talk about James with Finn. Letting out the breath she was holding in, she glanced at him and saw that he was clenching his hands tightly on the wheel and looking forwards and she knew he was trying to avoid her gaze.

"Finn?" Rachel said softly. He turned to look at her briefly and smiled.

"What's up?" He asked, but she saw that his eyes had doubt and concern in them.

"There's something I need to talk to you about" She said gently, smiling slightly at him.

"I thought so and I have something to say as well" He said "Can we wait to talk until we are at your house?"

Biting her lip softly, she nodded at him and he turned his attention back to the road. They remained in silence for a further ten minutes before they pulled up at her house. They walked slowly into her house, and after she let him in, he walked and stood in her lounge. Glad that her dads weren't home from work for another couple of hours, she followed Finn in and sat on the couch. He was watching her as she came in, and when she sat down he let out a breath.

"Finn, I-" She started to speak

"Wait, can I speak first?" He interrupted and she looked at him with sad eyes.

"No, I really need to tell you this, its very-" She started to say, her voice was soft and weak.

"I love you Rachel" He said firmly, staring at her with a smile on his face. At his words, she felt her throat tighten and she closed her eyes scrunching her eyebrows together in frustration. This is why she knew she should have told him before they had even left this morning; she was worried that he would try to win her over again after what she had heard at Noah's party. She had moved on, but he was still living in the past with his love for her. She had found someone else who she cared about and didn't want to lead him on by spending time with him today. Rache had kid herself into thinking that he had just wanted to be friends. "Will you say something?"

She opened her eyes, and looked at him; noticing that he had shifted next to her on the couch. She sat at the edge of the couch, looking at him clenching one of her fists that was resting on her knee. She watched as he looked at her confused.

"What's wrong?"

"I told you Finn" She says sadly, tears in her eyes. "I told you before summer that we were over. You were supposed to forget about me, you were supposed to realise that we can't work"

"What do you mean forget about you? You're the girl I love, Rach, how could I ever forget you?" He said in a pleading voice

She shook her head at him, "No, no I'm not. We don't work Finn, how can you not see that?"

"I listened to what you said" He says shifting slightly closer to him, and she shakes her head as he does; causing him to stay far enough away from her. "You said that we don't work because I didn't appreciate you enough; and I've realised while you were away that I don't. I've thought about us so much this summer, and all I can think of is that we are perfect for each other"

"Finn..." She says warningly "I don't love you anymore"

He frowned at her, and she saw anger in his eyes. Despite the tears in her eyes, and the horrible feeling she had in her stomach; she kept her head held high and looked determinedly in his eyes, wanting him to understand the truthfulness in her eyes. What he did next surprised her, in a swift movement he had closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against hers.

She was surprised at what he did at first, and it took her mind a moment to recognize what was going on. When her head caught up to the sensation, one thing dawned on her. There was nothing when he kissed her. In the past there had been a spark, something that felt absolutely right about her lips against hers. But that wasn't there any longer; it was just an empty sensation aside from her rough lips against hers. As he tried to deepend the kiss she pushed him off her and slapped him across the face.

"How dare you" She shouted as she stood up from the couch with her back to him. She cried for a moment, trying to compose herself; wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. After a few dozen seconds, she turned around to see him with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you" He says softly

"You're right. You shouldn't have" She says at him angrily. "I still care about you, but I don't love you anymore"

"How can you have moved on?" Finn says looking at her sadly

"I've met someone else" Rachel says, sniffing softly. "Someone who treats me better than you ever have. He makes me feel like the most amazing, luckiest girl in the world"

"That James guy?" Finn asks, and Rachel nods slowly. She see's his tears run down his cheeks. "How..."

"It just happened" Rachel says, taking a few tentative steps forward and sitting on the end of the couch. "We spent a lot of time together this summer...and my feelings just developed"

"And he?" Finn asks, his voice breaking off before finishing the question.

"Yeah, he feels the same way" Rachel says and tries to smile.

"Does he love you?"

"We've only been together for a week" Rachel says defensively, "But he is someone who would never hurt me, he would never choose another girl over me"

"But he doesn't love you" He says and tries to grab her hand before she pulls it back and shakes head. "Rachel...I love you, how can you choose him over me"

"Finn, we're over. I didn't choose him over you. I was single and so was he. You can't control how you feel about someone or what happens when you find someone who cares about you" Rachel says softly and moves a hand to hold his gently. "I will always care about you Finn. You were my first love, but I don't love you"

He raised his head to look at her and she smiled softly at him. "I want to be your friend still Finn. We just can't be together"

"No" Finn says, frowning at her as he stands up. "I'm not going to stand around and help you pick up the pieces when he lets you down"

"James would never-"

"He lives in Oregon you said right?" Finn snaps at her, and she nods at him gently. "You really think that this guy is going to stay faithful to you? He's going to get lonely and there will be girls who he will want to fill the emptiness with. I'm not going to be there to listen to your crap when he does"

"Fuck you" Rachel says loudly, standing up and pointing her finger at him "How dare you you Finn, James isn't you"

"Yeah well, now you don't have either of us. I don't want anything to do with you. I don't want to be your friend. I hope you and your new little boyfriend are happy until one of you cheats on the other" Finn shouts at her, and that makes Rachel even angrier. She hates when people shout at her, especially people she considered to be her friends.

"GET OUT" She screams at him, poking her finger at his chest. "Just get out and run off to Quinn like every time I hurt you, I'm sure she'll be glad to welcome you back"

He looks at her with anger in his eyes, and she thinks that he is s going to shout back at her. Instead he shakes his head and storms out of the room, and a few moments later she hears the front door slam shut. Rachel stands staring at the doorway Finn had just stormed out as the tears falling freely from her eyes before she runs up the stairs into her room. Pushing the door open, she stares around her room and that's when she breaks down completely, falling onto her bed and rolling up into a ball as she cries her heart out.

Rachel had tried to tell him in the nicest way possible, but he had been insistent on trying to make her take him back as her boyfriend. She hated the fact that he had kissed her, a sense of violation at the fact he had force himself on her as he kissed her roughly. Trying to get the thought out of her mind, she remembered the sensation of James lips on hers; how tender and affectionate his kisses were. When Finn had said that James would cheat on her, she had felt angrier at him than at any point during the last two years they had known each other. How dare he have the nerve to judge her boyfriend; someone who he didn't even know; especially given how badly he had lied to her in the past and his track record for cheating on his girlfriends.

Defiantly, Rachel had defended James because she trusted him. She knew that he would never cheat on her; that he would continue to care for her. That despite the size of the distance between them, he wouldn't go to another girl if he felt lonely. Obviously there was no way that she could know this for sure, but there was something about how much time she had spent with James that made her trust him completely.

...

A couple of hours later, and Rachel had managed to calm herself down and stop the tears from falling down her face. She had been led on her bed crying and that's the way that her dads had found her. They had brought her a glass of water, and sat with her; Hiram spending the time stroking her hair gentle as she lay in his lap. Leroy had sat there rubbing her back soothingly as they tried to coax out of her what had upset her so much. They knew that she had been speaking to Finn, and when she came to telling them about it, they had both looked at each other with angry, disappointed expressions on their faces.

She had told them fully what had happened, including the kiss, and they had been eager to call Finn's parents and ask them to speak to Finn about the inappropriate behaviour; but Rachel had talked them out of it, saying that she didn't want to both with him anymore. If he was going to speak and treat her in such a way then she didn't think they could be friends any longer.

They had gone to make dinner, after making sure she was okay to be alone for a little bit, and thats when Kurt had called her. He had forced Finn to explain what had happened and to say that he was furious was an understatement. He told Rachel how he screamed at Finn that Blaine had needed to hold him back before he slapped his step-brother. Rachel had laughed before she told him that it was okay and she would feel better once she spoke to James. Kurt had replied saying that he didn't himself nor should she believe that James would treat on her. Rachel nodded and thanked him for calling, letting him know that she would talk to James after dinner.

Dinner with her dads was a sombre affair, as they tried to talk to her to try and cheer her up. She could tell they wanted to ask her how she was feeling, but neither knew how to start off the conversation. As she stood in the kitchen as her dads washed up after dinner they finally broke the silence

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Leroy asked. Rachel looked up at him and he smiled at her sadly

"I'm still upset...but I'm feeling better. Kurt knows how to cheer me up" Rachel replied softly looking at him with a slight smile.

"At least you spoke to him, baby girl" Hiram said walking over touching her cheek softly. "He won't be angry with you forever"

"I know..." She said softly, "But I'm not sure we can be friends anymore after this"

Her dads remained silent and looked at each other sadly. Neither of them cared much for the boy, but they knew that their daughter had always appreciated the fact Finn was her friend, and they knew that she would always care about him even if she wasn't interested in him romantically.

"Have you spoken to James yet?" Leroy asked softly, and Rachel shook her head at him.

"No not yet, I didn't want to call him while I was crying. It'll only make him angry that he isn't here" Rachel replied, letting out a sigh. "I'm going to call him now though, if you'll excuse me"

"Of course sweetheart " Hiram smiled, "You should tell him what happened despite all that. He cares about you"

"I know" Rachel replied, and a wide smile crossed her face for the first time in a few hours. She hugged him "And I will, thanks Dad"

"Don't worry about it dear" Leroy hugged her before she left them to head upto her room. The two men glanced at each and shared sad smiles.

...

As she entered her room, Rachel collected her phone from the bedside table and collapsed onto her bed, sitting up against her headboard as she brought up James number. This was going to be a difficult conversation, because she knew that he would be angry and upset about how Finn had treated her; and the fact he was so far away while she was upset would make him feel horrible. If she was honest with herself, Rachel was more than just a little bit worried about how he would react. In the short time she had known James, he had never gotten angry at anybody, and she had a hard time believing that he could raise his voice above its natural calm tone.

She dialled the number, leaning her head back against a pillow she had propped up behind her back; closing her eyes for a moment as she waited for him to pick up. It took him a few seconds to pick up, and Rachel smiled as she heard his voice.

"Hey Beautiful" He said happily over the sound of some music playing in the background, and she was about to respond before she heard him shout to someone wherever he was "Dude, shut that off; Rachel's on the phone"

"Hey baby" She replied sighing gently as she spoke. "Where are you? It's very loud"

He laughed, and she giggled as well after a second. "I'm with some of the guys from my school. Been catching up having a BBQ at Matt's"

"That sound's like fun" Rachel said, her smile returning to her lips. "Enjoying being around your friends again? I bet it was nice to see them all"

"Yeah it is" He replied, and then he spoke to her for a few minutes describing what he and his friends had been doing. He explained there was around eight or nine of them apart from him. They'd met up and then gone to play some football in one of the fields around where they lived. After a couple hours playing, they had headed over to Matt's and she could hear the smile on his lips as he spoke to her. She smiled as she listened to him, laughing as he told her a little about his friends she hadn't met. He paused for a few silent seconds before adding in a soft tone "It would be better if you were here though. Everything is better with your beautiful smile"

"So charming" Rachel replied as she bit her lip, blushing slightly. "I know baby, I miss you too"

"How was your day?" He asked, and she sighed. As she wondered about how to start the conversation, she remained silent for a few long seconds. "Let me go find a quiet room, I won't be a minute"

She nodded, muttering a soft okay as she heard him moving about. Thirty seconds later she heard a door close on his end of the phone and she spoke again. "James? You there?"

"Yeah, sorry. I can tell you're upset and I don't want to talk about it in front of my friends" He responded in a concerned tone.

"Thank you" She replied smiling.

"What happened babe? Why are you upset?" He asked, and she sniffed sadly feeling her eyes well.

"I told Finn about us" She replied in a weak voice

"Tell me about it" He said softly in a comforting tone. She nodded, knowing that he was concerned about her and wanted to do whatever he could to try and make her feel better.

"I'll start from the beginning" She said, and he replied with a quick okay. For the next quarter of an hour, she talked him through the day; how she had spoken to her Dads firstly. Then she moved onto about what she did during her day with Finn while they walked around the mall. She paused after that and he gave her a few seconds before he spoke again.

"You're leaving something out, Rachel" He said gently, trying to push her to talk but the concern in his voice reassuring her he wouldn't get mad if she didn't want to tell him.

"I could tell that he had realised about you when I mentioned your name by accident" Rachel said, rubbing her arm nervously. "I told him that you were my best friend, aside from Kurt, but there was something about how he acted after that. He didn't let me bring it up, by mentioning something to distract me if I started talking after a bit of silence"

She paused a moment to see if he would react, but she was glad that he remained silent; trying to let her talk him through what had upset her at her own pace.

"After that he took me home, but along the way home it was awkward. We were both quiet and he said that he wanted to talk when we got back to my house" Rachel said softly, "When we got back to my house, We sat in the lounge and I tried to tell him I needed to speak with him about something important but he told me he loved me"

"Okay" He said, she heard his breathing tenser and moved to keep talking.

"I sat there frozen for a few seconds, and I said that I didn't love him back. I told him that I wanted him to move on" Rachel replied, sniffing. "He said that he'd been thinking this summer and we were perfect for each other. I denied that and told him that I felt nothing like that for him anymore...and then he"

She paused as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. James recognized that this was the part she was upset about and asked her gently; his voice cracking softly. "What did he do?"

"He kissed me" She said softly

"He what?" James replied, and she heard hurt in his voice.

"He kissed me, I'm so sorry I didn't want him to but he..." She said letting more tears down her face.

"It-...It's okay, It's okay" He says, hurt still in voice but she could hear the comfort he was trying to offer her. To reassure her that he wasn't angry with her. "It wasn't you it was him"

She laughed as she cried; thankful that he had trusted her. "Thank you for "

"I told you, I will always trust you babe. Always" He says, his voice reassuring her as always as she heard the complete truthfulness.

She smiled, letting out a little giggle before she sniffed.

"What happened next?"

"I told him that I would always care about him; but I didn't love him anymore. He asked me how I could just move on like that..." She said pausing, taking a deep breath. "I told him that I met you and how amazing you are. "

She heard him smile down the phone, "Not as amazing as you"

Biting her lip before she continued, "He then asked me if I loved you; and I told him that we had only been together for a week, but you made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. After that he got angry, saying that he didn't want to be friends with me anymore. That he wasn't going to hang around for when you cheat on me and break my heart; i was so upset when he said that, when you were so far away it was going to happen"

She stopped talking as her tears fell heavier, listening to see if he had anything to say to her. She heard sniffing, but apart from that silence. After a little period she spoke again; "James are you there?"

"I'm going to kick his ass" He said, softly and she could hear the hurt in his voice "I would never do that to you"

"I know, and please don't get angry with him; he was upset and-"

"So he decided to make you feel awful? That's fucking not acceptable and when I -" He said and she cut him off sobbing.

"Please James, don't. I know what he said, and I just feel so awful about what happened" She said crying

"I'm sorry baby" He said gently and soothingly "I would never, ever cheat on you. You mean too much to me"

"I know" She says sniffing to try and calm herself. "You aren't like him, and I told him that before I screamed at him to leave"

Rachel heard him laugh down the phone before he spoke again. "I'm glad. He shouldn't be around you if he's so horrible to you"

"I don't need anybody like that. All I need is my friends who care about me" She replied smiling softly; her voice breaking as she spoke again "I need you, but you're not here"

She knew she shouldn't have said it, but she needed him to comfort her; to know how much she missed him. He spoke with sadness rich in his voice. "I'm sorry, you know if I could I'd be there right now"

"I know, but I still miss you" She replied before crying again and she could tell he was as well. They spent the next half an hour comforting one another, as he sung comforting words down her the phone to her. She was thankful for the fact that he was being so amazing with her, uncomplainingly trying to make sure that she was feeling better; to try and sing her tears away. She listened silently, trying to calm herself as he sung to her; and eventually she smiled after a while as she managed to calm herself; before talking to him again.

"Thank you" She spoke softly, wiping her face with the sleeve of her blouse.

"I would sit here forever singing to you" He said, and a smile crossed her face. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"Yeah, talking and listening to you is comforting" She said and he laughed.

"I'm glad that I could help you baby, and I promise when I come to Ohio next week I'm going to cuddle you so much" He said, and she giggled.

"I look forward to it" Rachel said, smiling. "I'll let you get back to your friends now"

"Are you sure?" He asked softly,

"Yeah I am" She said, and yawned "I'm going to go to sleep earlier tonight. I'm feeling really tired from today"

"Okay, sleep tight" He said

"Have fun with your friends baby" She said softly and hung the call up.

As she led back in her bed, a smile crossed her face. Even after the horrible day that it had turned out to be; she felt happy that she could now accept that her relationship Finn was over and now that she had spoken to him; Rachel could look forward to moving on with James as her boyfriend. She wondered if she could ever get back to being friends with Finn; but that was at the back of her mind as she remembered James' soothing voice in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

...

/

**A/N : So, Finn and Rachel aren't on friendly speaking terms right now. Don't be mad at me for making Finn seem a bit jerkish, but its a lot to hear and he didn't take it very well right now. We'll have to see if they can be friends again in the future.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The next week and a half of Rachel's last few weeks of summer being back in Ohio went by in a mixture of emotions. The first two days after her revelation and subsequent argument with Finn had left her feeling emotionally drained. Even though speaking with James on the phone afterwards had relieved some of that feeling she had, but Rachel hadn't been the same for a couple of days as she recovered. Her Dads left her to it, knowing that there wasn't much they could do to relief her heartache at losing her friend; but they ensured that one of them was always around in case she needed to talk. By the end of the week, she had started to feel herself after talking to Kurt and Blaine about it. James had noted she sounded much happier during their nightly conversations before she went to sleep. Rachel had told him that she was feeling better about the whole Finn situation and she was looking forward to him coming to Ohio the week after. He explained that he was flying into Akron on the Monday and was flying home on the Sunday afternoon.

"When are you coming to Lima?" She asked, as she sat in her bed twirling some of her hair in her fingers.

"Jake's going to drop me off on Thursday morning" He replied "We've got the rest of that day, Friday and all day Saturday together"

"Sounds great baby" She said smiling.

The two of them talked for a little while longer before hanging up. The following day she had met up with a few of the glee club kids as they were for a lunch at a pizza place at the Lima mall. She enjoyed talking and spending time with her friends; while she had gotten to know several of the kids at the programme while she had been in New York, she felt it easier to be herself around the people she had known for several years. As they left, they promised to meet up again before they went back to school and have some fun. Several of them where eager to meet James when he came to visit the week after, and Noah tried them into another party at his. Rachel had told him that she would think about it, but really she knew that she wanted to spend as much time with James on her alone; enjoying his company that she had missed.

Thursday night swung by and Rachel spent the day with her dads as they both had the day of work. The three of them went to the movies and had lunch before they went home as Rachel prepared her room for the night to follow. She, Mercedes and Kurt had yet to have one of their sleepovers since they had been back in Ohio and so that night the two of them came over to her house. A couple of hours later, and they were sat on her bed watching Dreamgirls. They were chatting about their plans for the week after; the last full week that they had before school started again.

"Me and Blaine are going to the community theatre to watch their show of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He goes back to Darlton on soon, so we don't really have that long left to spend together. Especially not now that I'm back at McKinley; there's so few chances to see each other during the week" Kurt said sadly as he ate some popcorn.

Mercedes squeezed his arm gently, "It'll be okay Kurt, you two have got the weekends and they invited phones for a reason"

"I know but it's hard not being able to see each other all the time" Kurt said sadly, and Rachel looked down at her lap biting her lip. Kurt seemed to have noticed and quickly made to apologize.

"Oh Rach, I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring it up" He said intertwining her fingers with his.

"It's okay" She said smiling, "He's coming to visit next week and I get to spend four days with him. it's going to be so much fun"

"Are we going to get the chance to meet him or are you keeping him to yourself?" Mercedes asked smirking, and Rachel blushed furiously.

"You're awful!" She said giggling.

"Please, you know exactly what she says is true…based off New York anyway" Kurt replied laughing.

"Behave you two" She said slapping his arm playfully, before sighing "To answer your question, yes you will get to meet him; that's why he's coming to meet my friends. Well, and to see me but I know his best friends and he only really knows Kurt so…"

"Are you going to bring him to Puckerman's party?" Mercedes asked eating some popcorn.

"I don't know…I mean; I didn't drink at Noah's last time and I don't even know if James drinks" She said thoughtfully, "He didn't drink at Callback's, but that doesn't mean anything consider that there were so many that didn't..."

"Plus you just want to spend time with him alone" Kurt replied nudging her shoulder teasingly.

"I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable if people are drinking" Rachel said shrugging her shoulders

"He'll be happy just to spend time with you and your friends" Kurt said smiling at her, and she nodded.

"I'll ask him about it" Rachel said smiling slightly.

"I can't wait to see this guy anyway." Mercedes said as they turned the attention from the film a few minutes later. "He sounds great and super cute for a white boy"

The three of them laughed. Kurt spoke still laughing gently "He's coming Thursday right?"

"Yeah he is, Jake is going to drop him off" Rachel replied, turning to Mercedes to clarify her confused expression "that's one of the guy from Vocal Adrenaline"

The three of them spent the rest of the evening talking as they watched a series of musical films, from the movies themselves to glee club and the ideas they had; and had been coming up with over the last couple of weeks as they had met up with the other glee club members.

The next day she and Kurt had spent the day walking around the mall shopping. In New York, she had trusted Kurt to help her buy some new clothes and that trend had continued while they had been back home in Ohio. They were walking out of one shop when they came across Finn walking alongside Puck in the mall; causing Rachel to stop in her tracks as the other two did the same a few steps away from her. Noah smiled at her and waved that she returned before the two guy walked away. Kurt put an arm around her shoulder and guided her to walking towards the coffee shop again. They ordered and sat down, and Rachel sat in silence still contemplating their encounter with Finn. They hadn't spoken since the argument they'd have, and even though she had gotten over it; seeing him again had been hard. Even when they had broken up the year before, they had still been comfortable around one another and had still talked friendly to one another. Suddenly having no contact with him, despite being so close to her in the same town, was strange and seeing that had brought those thoughts back.

"You'll two will figure it out" Kurt said comfortingly; "You'll be friends again, you're both just upset"

"I know" Rachel replied and smiled slightly "Do you think I should speak to him or let him come to me?"

"You aren't in the wrong" Kurt said reassuringly "He just needs to understand that you don't want to be with him but you still want to be his friend"

Rachel nodded and hugged him before they continued speaking for another couple of hours before they headed home. Later that night after eating dinner with her dads, she made her way upstairs for her nightly call with James. Smiling as she heard his voice, they talked about their days. He told her that he had a pool party with his friends due to how warm it had been in Oregon. She laughed as he told her that he and Matt had ganged up on one of his called Tom and thrown him in the pool that had spilled over into a full flown wrestling between them all. She started telling him about hers, and he was happy that she had spent the day with Kurt.

"I miss speaking with Kurt" James said sadly, "I feel bad I haven't spoken to him much since we left New York"

"It's okay, you'll get to see him next week" Rachel replied, "He's been busy enough spending time with Blaine, they've been practically inseperable. Like me and you were"

He laughed at her as she giggled with him, before he spoke again "What did you two get upto?"

"We went to the mall" She explained, and told him about how they had gone shopping to buy some more clothes and that she had picked out a few things she couldn't wait to show him. He complimented her saying that she looked great whatever she wore causing her to blush furiously.

"You're making me blush" She said biting her lip, and she could hear the smirk on his face down the phone.

"Only because you look gorgeous when you do" He replied, and she felt her cheeks redden even more.

"You should be banned from being this charming" Rachel teased, and he laughed at her again "Anyway…afterwards we were heading to get some coffee…and I we ran into Finn, he was with Noah"

"Are you okay? Did he say anything to you?" He asked concerned, they hadn't spoken much about what had happened after that initial night but he knew that she still upset at the fact her friend was talking to her.

"No, we just sort of looked at each other before they walked off" Rachel said softly.

"Do you miss him?" He asked calmly, and Rachel wasn't sure what to say.

"I do" She said softly after a few moments, and she heard him breath down the phone. "Not like that…but as a friend. I don't like him being upset with me, even if it was his own doing. He was my first real friend at McKinley…"

"I get it babe" He said truthfully. "I know you still care about him, its only natural. I'd hate it if my ex wasn't talking to me; she still knows what to say to cheer me up"

"You're amazing" Rachel said, "Other guys might be upset that their girlfriend is missing their ex"

"I know you two are done, Rachel" he replied "I told you before, I trust you completely and when you told me this summer I believe you"

"I trust you too you know" she said gently and he replied happily.

"I know" He said and she smiled at his words. "How are your dads anyway? I miss speaking to them more than Kurt, your dads are cool"

They both laughed and then she told him about how they were doing. Leroy had been working a lot since they had returned to Ohio; a side effect of his decision to ask for a month off to go to New York with his daughter and husband. Sure he had been working a little while they had been there, it was different than being around to deal with the meetings his position required. After another hour, he told her to give his Dad's his best and that he needed to help his mom clear up before bed.

….

The weekend sped past quickly, and the first couple of days of the following week did as well. Rachel mood drastically improved knowing that in only a few short days that James would be coming to visit her. She'd been happy the previous week after she dealt with the Finn situation, but she was truly glowing with a smile that never seemed to fade. After spending a few hours with Kurt and Blaine that weekend, they had both commented on the fact that she looked absolutely radiant; as her and Kurt shared knowing smiles before she blushed furiously.

The rest of the weekend was spend with her Dads, as they both had the days off work and they took the opportunity to for one of their family walks around a large park a couple of hours away before they went to a favourite restaurant of Hiram's that evening.

That Sunday night, James rung her from the airport telling her that he was going to flying soon and that he didn't have much time to talk to her. Although she was sad about that fact, she told him that it was okay because they would be able to see each other face to face in a few days. Asking her about her day, she told him about her walk with her dads and that she had spent the evening the preparing their guest room at her house.

"Already?" James laughed "I'm not even coming until Thursday"

"I know, but I'm so…so excited" Rachel giggled. "I just want to make sure everything is perfect"

"You are crazy" He said, and she frowned a little at it before he added, "And completely and utterly adorable. I can't wait either"

They spoke for about twenty minutes more before he had to go to board his flight and she was said at the shortness of their talk. They had spoken for a couple of hours most nights and that short twenty minutes made her feel as though someone thing was missing before she went to bed.

The first couple of days of the week passed by and Rachel spent much of the time with Blaine, Kurt and Mercedes hanging around at the mall or at either her or Mercedes' house. They could tell she was nervous about James coming, and they tried their best to keep her mind off the fact he hadn't called her since his plane had touched down at the airport in Akron; telling her from the back of Jake's range rover that he had arrived safely and was heading to his house now.

It was Tuesday evening now, and as she sat eating dinner with her Dad's and Kurt, who her Dad's had grown to love during their time in New York and had missed his presence and thus had invited him over for dinner, silently playing with her bean salad with her fork. She was listening to them talk about a song that was in the charts at the moment, and normally she would have taken part in the discussion but she wasn't much in the mood for talking. She hadn't slept as well as she normally did the night before as James hadn't called her. She would have called but she figured that maybe he would be tired after his flight and adjusting to the time difference. When he didn't call her in the morning, she couldn't help but feel a little bit down.

"Are you okay sweetie?" Hiram asked, and her head shot up to meet her Dad's concerned gaze.

"Yeah, you're not normally this quiet Rachel" Kurt added, smiling at her.

"I'm just thinking about something…" Rachel added, shrugging her shoulders.

"James?" Leroy replied, and she couldn't help but smile sadly and nod her head.

"Still hasn't called?" Kurt asked softly

"No…I know he's in Ohio but he hasn't called me since he landed…" Rachel said softly "I know that he's going to be here in a couple of days but I miss talking to him…"

"It'll be alright, he's probably just been busy seeing his friends. I'm sure he'll call sweetheart" Leroy added, and squeezed her shoulder. Rachel smiled nodding, resolving to getting involved in the conversation now.

Kurt stayed for another hour, and the four of them ended up heading into the room where they gathered around the piano singing show tunes and spending time having fun with one another. After he left, Rachel helped her dads clear up from dinner before heading up to her room sitting down at her desk to look on her laptop for a little while. While she was in New York, she had ensured to get all of the kids she had become friends with to exchange facebook details and become friends. She browsed subconsciously onto James' profile and saw that his last post had been a few days ago talking about how excited he was to see Jake and the guys from Vocal Adrenaline. She was about to log off and curl up in bed to watch a film when she got a message from Matt.

_Hey Berry, hows it going?_

Smiling, Rachel realized that she hadn't talked to him in over a week and she really did miss him.

_Hey Matt, I'm fine. What about you?_

_I'm good, only a week left of summer and it's been awesome. Can't believe how much I missed my friends while we were in New York. Not that it wasn't awesome_

She smiled. _Me too, it's so good seeing them all again._

_I'm surprised you're on here anyway. I thought you and James would be stealing makeout sessions away from your Dads._

_We're not that bad. _Rachel giggled, before sighing _He's not here until Thursday. But I miss him._

_Oh…haven't you just been talking to him. I know that he calls you to talk on the phone before you got sleep every night?_

_Not tonight _She typed out, the pressure behind her eyes rising.

_Did you get into a fight or something?_

_No…he's just not not called me since he landed_

_Oh…I'm sure you he's just been busy, he'll call you soon _

_I hope so, I miss talking to him before bed. _She bit her lip

_Don't worry Rachel, he'll call I promise. If he doesn't then I will call him tomorrow and kick his ass. _

She couldn't but laugh at him, grinning that he was able to make it laugh. They spent another quarter of an hour catching up before Rachel stifled a yawn and decided she wanted to climb into bed.

_Thanks for talking Matt, I missed talking to you. It won't be so long next time I promise._

_I hope so, anyway my mom wants me for some help. I've got to help her out. Sleep tight Rachel._

_Night Matt. _

Turning off her computer, Rachel sighed standing and walked to her bathroom to get ready for bed. Half an hour later after her routine, she slipped in bed after turning on her TV with a copy of Funny Girl in. Placing her phone on top of the covers on her bed next to her, as she watched the film, smiling as it took her mind off not talking to James. As the film started to come to an end, her phone rang and sleepily picked it up answering it not paying attention to who the caller id was.

"Hello?" She said surpressing a yawn.

"Hey Rachel" James voice came down the phone, and she shot up in bed surprised as a smile crossed her face.

"James? Are you okay? You haven't called me since you landed" She said breathlessly

"I know, I'm sorry." He replied, laughing at her reaction and she couldn't help but giggle along with him

"Don't laugh at me it's not funny" She said smiling "I missed talking to you"

"I missed you two, but at least we're in the same state now" He replied, and she could hear happiness in his voice at speaking to her again.

"Have you enjoyed being here?" She asked, biting her lip. She wanted to ask him why he hadn't called but she knew he would talk to eventually. At the moment she was just glad that he called.

"Yeah its been great. I'm sorry I didn't call, but Jake's parents are away so he threw this party last night with his friends and I got distracted" He said apologetically. "I got up late this morning and didn't know what you'd be doing…I should have called you anyway"

"It's okay…I mean I was upset you didn't and I didn't know what to do" Rachel replied sadly, sniffing.

"I'm really really sorry, I promise I'll call next time" James said, "Please don't cry"

At his words, she sniffed again feeling the pressure behind her eyes. Nodding she gulped to control her feelings and forced herself to smile. "I won't, I was just worried"

They talked for an hour, reacquainting one another with what they had been upto the last two days. He told her that he'd been having fun with Jake and his friends at Carmel. She laughed as he told her about the aspects of the party. She told him about her dinner with her dads and Kurt, and how she had been bent out of shape being worried about why he hadn't called. Afterwards she told him about what Matt had told her, and they both laughed.

"I better watch my back, seems you've found yourself a big brother" James said still with humour in his voice.

"I'll protect you when you're here" She giggled. She heard him yawn "Tired?"

"Yeah, sorry" He replied, "I want to talk to you for so much more…but im really tired"

"It's okay, I'm actually in bed all ready to go to sleep" She said giggling. "Night Baby"

"Goodnight Rachel" He responded before hanging up the phone. Placing hers down her bedside cabinet and turning over in bed, sighing happily into her pillow; Rachel drifted off to sleep significantly happier than when she had gotten in bed.

….


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The next day Rachel spent the day pottering around the house with Hiram. Leroy had to work, but Rachel had dragged her other dad around the house after roping him into preparing the house for James visit. Hiram had laughed it off as he listened to her bark off commands from the list of things she had prepared. Rachel knew that she was going slightly overboard with everything, but this was his first time visiting Lima and as always her need for perfection took over. A need to ensure that he enjoyed his time with her, as well as wanting to make sure everything was perfect for James. After a couple of hours, they were cleaning the kitchen when her Dad stopped and placed the cloth down on the side. Rachel looked up and frowned as she saw Hiram pouring a glass of water; he turned around taking a sip before shrugging at her.

"Dad…what are you doing?" She said

"Having a drink of water?" He replied, smiling at her. She rolled her eyes, walking over to him and took the glass out of his hand.

"Come on, we've got this room to finish then we have-" She started when he placed a hand on her arm squeezing softly

"Sweetie…James really isn't going to bother about what the house looks" He said smiling, taking the cloth out of her hand. "He's just going to be happy that he gets to spend a few days with you"

She smiled softly, nodding as she looked down at her feet. Her dad was telling the truth, she didn't need to go all crazy cleaning the house; James wouldn't care one bit as long as he was able to hold her. She had just been expressing her nervousness in another way, and not sitting by idly as she waited for him to arrive.

"I'm sorry Dad, I'm just nervous" She said biting her lip, "I haven't seen him in a week; and I just want to make a good impression"

"And you will honey, just try to relax" He said and she pulled him into a hug. As she pulled back, he kissed her forehead and whispered. "Now go upstairs, and take a bath to let yourself relax"

Smiling at him, Rachel nodded as she turned around and headed upstairs to her room. Half an hour later and she was led in the bath, head leaning back against a rolled up towel behind her head; eyes closed as she enjoyed the relaxing feeling of the warm water on her skin. Letting out a deep breath, she allowed a smile to cross her lips. It was funny how quickly she had been able to let go once she stopped thinking about the things that had bothered her. She sat in her bathroom relaxing for a time as Broadway music rang out softly from the small pink radio that was on the side by her sink.

She jumped out of her relaxing state, as her phone started to ring; defying gravity ringing loudly on the stool next to her bath. Opening her eyes, blinking a few times to wake herself up properly; Rachel reached her arm out from under the bubbles that had started to fade, wiping her hand on a towel and reaching over to pick her phone up; smiling widely as she saw the picture appearing on the screen.

"Hi baby" She said happily, resting her head back against her headrest.

"Why hello there " He responded and she could hear him laughing. "You sound happy today"

"Why wouldn't I be, " She giggled down the phone, "I'm taking a relaxing bubble bath, and my amazing, handsome boyfriend is coming to visit me tomorrow. I'm so excited"

"Me too, seeing Jake was great, but seeing you is going to be even better" He said, and she bit her lip listening to him. "Just one more thing before I ask you about your day….did you say you were in the bath right now?"

Blushing furiously, relaxing she was talking to him while she was naked; Rachel laughed nervously. "You might say that"

"Wow" He said softly, and she heard him gulp. "That's…wow…ehm, so yeah …."

"This is the first time I've heard you speechless, are you actually lost for words James?" She giggled, loving that he was uncomfortable in her presence for the first time; normally he seemed so confident around her, in fact that extended to every time they talked.

"I'm trying really hard not to think of you na…in that bath" He said slowly and she heard him breathe out.

Giggling again, even though she was blushing furiously, she managed to say "How was your day?"

"It was great, really great. Hung out with the vocal adrenaline guys today; they really are good people, once you get past the whole top two teams in the country rivalry thing" He laughed, and Rachel smirked.

"Top two? I understand the Vocal Adrenaline side, but you don't belong to New Directions…" She said teasingly

"Oh? I'm sorry miss twelve place finish…." He said laughing, and she pouted down the phone. "You're pouting aren't you?"

"Yes as a matter fact I am. Don't let that national title go to your head Mr, you'll be bowing down before me when we beat you this year" She giggled. He laughed down and the phone, and she smiled at the sound of it; he really did have the most beautiful laugh.

"I thought we agreed not to let out rivalry get between our love" He said, and she blushed at the words. Rachel didn't know whether or not he was speaking specifically about his feelings or whether it was just a figurative meaning. "What have you been upto then today?"

"You're right, let's put it behind us. I spent the day forcing my Dad to help me clean the house before you come tomorrow" She says smiling,

"That's really sweet of you baby, I hope you didn't go to too much effort just on my behalf" He said in that gentle voice that she loved hearing. "I'd be happy sleeping on your bedroom floor if it meant I got to see you for a few days"

"I wouldn't let you sleep on my floor, you could sleep in my bed" She said subconsciously, her still dwelling on what he had said before. She gulped as she realised what she had said, as he didn't respond to her statement.

"Well" He said after a few seconds that made her feel relieved "Luckily your Dad's are so accepting of us so I don't need to intrude on your beauty sleep. And by the way, I can't wait to see what your bedroom looks like; I've got images of pink wallpaper covered in gold stars and soft toys everywhere"

She laughed loudly as he did the same down the phone. embarrassed, she replied biting her lip "You aren't wrong about the Soft toys…but the wallpaper is yellow"

"Awww" He moaned softly, she giggled again. "Spoil all the surprise why don't you Rachel"

"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you tomorrow" She replied grinning "We're going to have the greatest time"

"Every day I spend with you in the greatest" He said calmly, and she smiled again licking her bottom lip.

"You're too charming" She replied, "And I can't wait until tomorrow, what has Jake got planned for you tonight?"

"Same thing he's had planned every night…a party" He said chuckling as he spoke "He says its going to be going away party for me, because he's never going to see me again once I visit you. Personally, I know it's just an excuse for them to get drunk"

"You're drinking tonight?" She asked curiously, Noah's party this weekend on her mind.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to be hungover when I see you tomorrow. I want to stay on your Dads good side so I can come visit you some more from Oregon" He replied, and she smiled at how amazing he was. "I don't even really drink that much, to be honest. I'll have a couple of them, but I never go crazy"

"Okay, I don't really drink that much…horrible experience from last year" She said, pulling a face as she remember being thrown up on by Brittany.

The two of them spent another quarter of an hour speaking, before she noticed that the water was beginning to cool and she realized she had been sat in well over an hour now. Hearing a soft knock on her bedroom door, followed by her Dad speaking softly.

"Rachel honey, your Dad is home with some dinner"

"I'll be down in a little while" She replied, before returning her attention to her phone call. "I should go, I'm starting to prune in this bath water"

He laughed and she giggled along before he replied; "That would ruin your beautiful skin. I gotta go too, Jake's been sitting across the room looking annoyed for about ten minutes"

"Tell him not to get my boyfriend drunk tonight" She said, giggling as she heard him shout on the other side of the phone. "I'll see you tomorrow"

"You bet it" He replied, "I'll can't wait Rachel"

"Me neither" She said softly, "Bye baby"

….

After getting out of her bath and rubbing moisturiser into her skin; she wrapped herself in her robe and headed downstairs. Her dad had brought them food from a Thai take away that they loved eating from. She spent the next few hours sitting in her lounge with her Dads as they watched TV together as Leroy asked what the two of them had been up to while he had been at work. He laughed as Hiram told him about Rachel's cleaning stress relief.

Rachel sat on the couch, leaning into the corner surrounded by several pillows as she texted with Kurt and Mercedes making sure that they were still on for meeting her and James at the Lima Bean the tomorrow afternoon. While she had missed James, and wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, there was a small part of her; actually it was a large part of her that wanted to show him off this incredibly handsome guy to her friends. Girls like her didn't normally get guys like James, but she was lucky that he cared for her; and it shook away any nerves she had. He made her feel amazing, and special; like she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

Her thoughts drifted to her conversation with him when she was in the bath, and she had mentioned she would let him sleep in her bed. Biting her lip, she wondered what it would be like to sleep with someone's arms around you. A guy had never stayed in her house overnight before, never mind every night for several days. Sure she had led on a bed with a guy's arms around her before, in fact when she was dating Jesse, he had spent a large amount of time holding her on her bed while they had one of their frequent make out sessions. Finn had also led on her bed with her as he had come over and watched movies with her, but neither of them had stayed overnight.

Rachel was tracing shapes on her exposed shoulder with her finger tenderly as her Dad's word snapped her out of her daydream.

"Are you going to head up to bed early, sweetie?" Leroy asked,

"Huh?" She murmured, turning her head to look at him confused.

"We agreed to raise your curfew while James was staying over…remember?" Hiram smiled. "We figured you two would want to spend some time together doing things like going to the movies or whatever kids do these days"

"Yeah I remember" She said smiling back at her Dads. They were really supportive of her relationship of James; the young guy had convinced her dads that he was trust worthy and the fact they liked him was a huge plus for her. "I'm really thankful for that Daddy"

"So, you should probably get some sleep; no doubt you'd want to spend tomorrow night out a bit later…" Leroy said, smiling loosely at her. Rachel blushed softly nodding at him.

"I will Dad, thanks I love you" She said getting up and kissing him on the cheek, before turning and doing the same to Hiram" You too Daddy"

"We love you two sweetheart" They said in harmony and she headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

…..

Rachel's alarm went off at eight am. Yawning and stretching in her bed, Rachel rolled over in bed and turned it off as it blurred Kelly Clarkson out into her room. Not only had she headed to sleep early, but she had decided on skipping her morning routine. She turned back over and led on her bed looking up at the canopy of her bed smiling widely. Despite having only just woken up, she was wide awake with excitement. Today was the day where she would be completely happy and satisfied for the first time she had been in New York a few weeks earlier. Today would be the day, where she would be reunited with James for the first time since they had departed from one another in New York nearly two weeks previous.

Having lay there for twenty minutes more, simply running over her plan for the day in her mind; she pushed back the covers and jumped out of bed, heading into the bathroom to take her morning shower and to make herself look presentable. A half hour later, and Rachel found herself skipping down the stairs after popping her head into Leroy's office room to say good morning. Today, he had the day off while Hiram had to head into work, and he followed her down the stairs laughing at how excited she was before they both headed into the kitchen.

After he made the both of them breakfast, he sat down opposite her as they ate Rachel sat with the largest smile that she'd ever worn on her face. She couldn't wait for James to arrive, and it would be so amazing. They were going to go for walks hand in hand, sit and cuddle while they watched TV or sit sharing tender touches across the table as they drunk coffee. Her dad must have been able to sense what she was thinking about, or guessed purely based on the smile on her face why she was happy.

"I'm eager to see James later" He remarked, and she glanced at him to see his smirk. "It's been strange not having that young man around"

"I know, I'm so happy" She grinned back, before taking a sip of her milk.

"When does he get here?" He asked, chewing his cereal

"He sent me a text saying they were leaving in an hour or so" She said, swallowing. "Akron is a couple of hours drive away so he should be here for around twelve"

"What have you got planed?" he replied, and she ran him through what she hoped to do that day with James, as long as he was happy with her plan; which she knew he would be. Afterwards he smiled nodding. "That sounds perfect. I spoke to your Dad after you went to bed and we were thinking we could go out for dinner, the four of us; our treat"

"That sounds great, we could do it before we go to the movies" She smiled widely.

Cleaning up, she spent the next couple of hours dotting around her room keeping herself busy; knowing that she had to do something to keep herself busy and control her excitement. If she down she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep herself still and tried to keep her hands occupied. After chatting to Kurt on the phone for about an hour, she headed over to spare room and peaked inside. They had bought some new bed sheets in James' favourite colour, blue. Knowing that he might be using that room various times over the next year her dads had tried to make it feel as homely as possible for him. The previous day, as she recalled telling him flustered she had spent the day cleaning it up and organizing it for him. she took a pride out of knowing he would appreciate the gesture; and she sat on the bed hugging a pillow close to her body.

…

As the time of James' arrival neared, Rachel headed downstairs and paced around the living room biting her bottom lip and rubbing her neck nervously. Leroy who had relocated himself downstairs was watching her, thankful for the open plan nature of the downstairs of their house, with an amused expression on his face from the breakfast counter in the kitchen. As she circled around the room for what must have been the 50th time in the space of ten minutes, he laughed aloud causing her to stop and glare at him.

"What's so funny?" She moaned at him, frowning slightly.

"You are, baby girl" He said shaking his head. "Come sit with me for a little while, you're going to wear a hole in my carpet"

"It's not your carpet" She huffed, striding over as quickly as her little legs would allow and sitting herself down next to him. "Daddy wanted this carpet, and you wanted laminate flooring"

Chuckling again, he reached over and placed an arm around her shoulder pulling her into his side as she rested her head on his shoulder. "You still would have worn a hole in it the pace you are walking around at. Relax, he'll be here soon"

Pressing her lips together, she nodded at him; breathing out slowly as she lent off his shoulder and watched what he was working on his laptop. They sat like that for a further half an hour before she heard a car pull up outside her house, causing her to jump up and run to the front window. Peering out she saw a black Volvo, outside, she was aware of her dad walking behind her but she ignored him as she saw Jake climb out of the car, his short blonde hair visible over the top of the sunglasses and bandana he was wearing as a headband. She rolled her eyes as she observed him, he was wearing Jean shorts and a yellow t-shirt where the sleeves were rolled up over his shoulders.

"That boy is worse than Noah Puckerman for dressing like a punk" Her dad chimed, as she looked at his amused expression and giggled at him.

Her attention quickly returned to gazing out the house, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw who who was climbing out of the car. Jake made a comment that made the other guy on the other side laugh and Rachel felt herself smiling instinctively. Taking in his appearance for the first time in two weeks, Rachel saw that his hair was as long as it had been when she last saw him, in fact it seemed to have been trimmed by an inch or so around the sides of his head creating a fluffier mess on the top of his head. His fringe dangled loosely over his forehead; his eyes covered by black aviator sunglasses that she couldn't help but giggle at. As he stepped around to the boot of the car, Rachel saw that he was wearing a white t-shirt that hugged his body perfectly, showing of his toned body alone with some blue shorts that ended just below his knees. As he and Jake started walking to the back of the car, and as they reached into the boot of Jake's car and pulling out his luggage, as she decided it was to time to see him; running to the door and pulling it open.

As she headed out the door, she paused on the doorstep watching as he took his sunglasses off and placed them in the backpack of his shorts before offering her a gigantic smile. Returning it as happiness spread across her entire body, she started running towards him. As she approached him, he stepped forwards to meet her and when they reached one another, Rachel ran into him and pressed herself tightly against him, wrapping her arms around his waist, as she felt his arms engulf her. Rachel sighed happily in his arms, a smile gracing her lips as she breathed in his scent, a warm safe feeling spread over her body at being held by him. She felt him shift to place his head in the crook of her neck, and she rested hers against his shoulder. They stood like that for a few moments, that felt like the best hours of her life being held by James, before she felt his head shift as he nuzzled her neck and her eyes closed instinctively as she felt him press his warm lips against the skin on her neck as he peppered soft kisses moving his way up to her ear.

"I missed you" He whispered into her ear, his deep voice that radiated calmness and tenderness, his warm breath against her ear causing her to shiver at the sensation before he placed another kiss gently below her ear that sent shock waves through her body. Moving her head from its position on his shoulder, Rachel nuzzled his neck with her nose affectionately, getting a soft moan from him before she moved to kiss him tenderly on the same spot then feeling comfortable and confident around him deciding to suck on the skin softly. and she grinned as she felt his arms pull her closer to him grinding her body flush up against him, closing her eyes as she settled into his arms. They stood holding onto each other for well over a minute, exchanging soft kisses pressed against one another's necks as neither seemed to want to let go of the other, both simply happy just to settle close to the person they had missed over the past couple of weeks.

A cough from the side shook her out of her quiet contentment, and she opened her eyes to gaze past James at Jake who winked at her; a smirk on his lips. She moaned softly as James pulled back from holding her, her hands remaining linked behind his back trying to keep him in close proximity. After two weeks of not being close to him, she was in no hurry to be anywhere but right next to him, and Rachel smiled as he didn't move to step away from her; instead he simply moved his arms up and placed his hands gently on her neck his thumbs stroking her jaw tenderly. Staring up at him, there was a heat in her body as she looked at him gazing at her lovingly, his eyes reflecting the pure happiness and joy at seeing her. There was a tear in his eye, and she tilted her head up to kiss him and she moaned at the touch of his lips on hers. She smiled against his lips, rubbing her hands soothingly up and down his back, and after a few short chaste kisses she ran her tongue across his bottom lip then taking it between her teeth nipping it softly as he opened his mouth as their lips met again and she slipped her tongue in to meet his as he pulled her head closer to him deepening the kiss. They shared passionate kisses for a couple more minutes, before she pulled back, breathing deeply, placing a single chaste kiss on his lips before resting her forehead against hers. She bit her lip as she saw him looking at her, his eyelids still half closed from the kiss they had just shared. He kissed her once more before removing his forehead from hers, and smiled at her widely making him look even more handsome than she had ever known possible.

"Hey" She said softly, smiling back at him

"Hi" He said, his voice soft. "I missed kissing you"

"I missed you" She murmered, leaning up to capture his lips again.

As they separated, Rachel became all too aware of the fact that her dad had been watching them the entire time, along with Jake who had a smirk on his face. Walking over to him, she hugged him tentatively before pulling back as he spoke.

"That all I get Berry? I haven't seen you in two weeks either" He said and she couldn't but giggle at his crudeness.

"You suck" She replied, hitting his chest playfully to which he simply winked at her and turned to James.

"Alright Dude, I'm going to head off. You sure you don't wanna come with?" He spoke and James smirked at him

"Thanks for putting me up man" He said as the two guys embraced for a few short seconds. After they separated Rachel walked over and put her arm around his waist, his arm finding her shoulder.

"I think he's good" She giggled, kissing his cheek. They stood there and waved Jake off who had climbed into his car and honked the horn a couple of times before he disappeared off.

Turning around, James released his hold on her and picked up his bag slinging it over his shoulder, as well as pulling his small suitcase up the Berry driveway towards the door where her Dad was stood with an amused look on his face. Rachel felt an intense heat radiate across her face, biting her lip to try and hide the embarrassed giggle she had been about to let out. Thankfully, when they reached the door, James placed suitcase down and stepped forward hand outstretched to greet her father.

"Nice to see you, Son" Leroy said, amusement in his voice at what he had just witnessed. Rachel watched as James chuckled softly, smiling at the pink blush that was on his cheeks, as they shook each others hand.

"Been too long, Sir" James replied confidently, despite the fact that he was clearly as embarrassed as she was.

Her Dad, smiled looking between the two teens and stepped forward to pat James on the shoulder, before pulling him into a tender embrace. As they stepped away, James smiled nervously as Leroy spoke.

"I've told you before, call me Leroy" He said, and James nodded. Reaching out, she found his hand, and he glanced at her winking. "Why don't you two come in and we'll have a drink"

Sheepishly following her dad into the house, she glanced behind her and saw that James was stood taking in the hallway of her house. He moved his gaze from the pictures on the wall of Rachel and her dads, smiling as his eyes met hers. Instantly, Rachel felt a smile cross hers.

"Your house is beautiful" He said softly, and Rachel blushed stepping forward towards him and held her hand out. She felt a jolt shoot up her arm as he took hers in his and intertwined his fingers in hers.

"Thank you" She replied, and pulled him along with her. Looking over her shoulder, Rachel smiled at him again, motioning towards the kitchen with her head. nodding he put his bag down on the floor and followed her.

As they entered, the kitchen her dad was pouring water out of the kettle into three cups. Smilinga, she steered James over to the breakfast counter where he lent against it casually arms folded, before going over to her dad and collecting two of the cups. Handing him one, she turned around and leant her back against him smiling as she felt his arm go around her waist pulling her flush against him. biting her lip, Rachel lent her head back and felt him rest his head on her. Taking a sip of her tea, she blushed as her dad watched them.

"So James" He said smirking, "How have you been? Enjoying the rest of your summer?"

"It's been fun" She heard his voice, his breath blowing across the top of her hair sending a tingle down her spine. For around fifteen minutes, he talked to her Dad about what he'd been doing since Leroy had seen him in New York. Rachel shifted as she listened, knowing a lot of it, from leaning against him to at his side; her arm draped around his waist as her body arched into his as he stood with an arm around her shoulder gently stroking her shoulder.

"The last couple of days have been amazing though" James laughed, "I don't think I've ever spent so much time just singing and dancing when it hasn't been for glee club or something like. Vocal Adrenaline get access to the auditorium at Carmel during summer and they've been determined to get me to perform witht hem"

"Did you have fun?" She asked, and he looked at her nodding.

"Yeah, I'm happier here now with you than I have been in Akron" He said, leaning over and kissing her forehead.

"Well, we are glad to have you here. I've got some work to finish, but im sure Rachel will be glad to show you around the place." Leroy said smiling, placing his cup in the sink and stroked Rachel's cheek affectionately, before nodding firmly at James.

Moving in front of James, she shifted close to him and their bodies touched. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she linked her hands around his neck leaning up to kiss him. She smiled against his lips as they shared chaste kisses for several minutes before she pulled back and rested her forehead against his.

"I feel home" He murmered and she looked up at him through her eyelashes. She smiled, feeling her eyes well up as she inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"I'm glad you're here" She replied, and pulled away from him. taking his hand, she pulled him away from the kitchen and towards the hallway. "Come on, let me show you around"

After he had grabbed his luggage, she showed James to his room; closing the door as he placed his bags down on his bed. Leaning against the door, she watched as he looked around the room with a smile on his face. He finished turning on the spot and faced her, and Rachel felt herself smile back at him.

"Everything okay?" She asked nervously, desperate for him to be okay with the room. She wanted him to feel at home and comfortable in the house so that he would want to come back again and visit.

"It's perfect" He grinned at her, and she felt herself relax against the door. He titled his head and gazed at her curiously, before stepping forward and closing the distance between them. James raised his hand and placed it tenderly against her cheek. Closing her eyes she leaned into his touch.

"You okay?" he asked softly, and she opened her eyes to gaze at him and sighed.

"I just want you to like it here, so that you'll want to come back and visit again" She admitted honestly, and she saw his lips upturn into a smile.

"Babe…" He replied tenderly. "I told you the other day, I would want to come visit you even if it meant I had to sleep on the floor"

Biting her lip, she nodded. She had missed him, being close to him and seeing the truthfulness in his eyes as he spoke to her. Gulping, Rachel felt confidence flowing through her. "I also remember saying you could sleep in my bed rather than the floor"

He grinned at her, and as she looked up at him; Rachel saw something hazy in his eyes before he leaned down and captured her lips. She moaned at the forcefulness of it, he pressed his lips against hers more roughly than he had in the past, except for the last kiss they shared in New York, and rather than pullback Rachel felt herself lean closer into him as she wrapped her arms around him, landing on his bum playfully. She didn't hesitate in opening her mouth and accepting his tongue; meeting it with hers as she deepened the kiss moving her arms to encase his neck. Rachel felt her mind go blank as they kissed, completely overwhelmed by the sheer affection and pleasure she felt as her tongue battled with his for dominance. After a few minutes, she felt him run a hand down her thigh, pulling her leg up against him as she wrapped it around him and Rachel gasped against his lisps at the sensation of James' erection pressed against her. Instinctively, Rachel fingers curled into the hair at the base of his neck and pulled him closer, nimbling on his bottom lip tenderly as his hand gripped her neck. When he moved his lips to her neck, he bit her softly and her hips bucked into him uncontrollably and she heard him moan.

Slowing the intensity of the kiss, James kissed her once more before he let her leg fall from his body and it fell to the floor as he leaned his forehead against hers. Smirking, he nuzzled her with his nose gently.

"That was…" She moan softly, still feeling flustered after their intense kissing.

"Amazing" He finished, leaning down and kissing her gently; "Want to show me around?"

She nodded, biting her lip as she tried to control her breathing. "Yeah, come on"

He stepped away from her, taking her hand as she opened the door and led him into the hallway. For the next half an hour, Rachel showed him around her house. He had been eager to see her room, and she had blushed when he had walked around it, gently touching her bed before complimenting her saying it was beautiful. He was impressed by the Oscar's room downstairs, and laughed as she told him about the party she had thrown the year before. The tour came to a halt as they entered the family room. He had a look of pure excitement as he saw the grand piano that was situated in the corner of the room near the large bay windows. He had walked over and sat down on the steel in front of it, running his fingers over the keys.

Walking over, Rachel placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed her fingers into them, gently massaging them. He looked up at her and smiled. "This is awesome"

"You seem more happy about this than actually seeing me" She teased, placing a kiss on his forehead. When she pulled away, he rolled his eyes at her.

"Of course not" James replied, and she kissed him again.

"Come on, we've got to meet my friends"

…..

Now, the two of them were walking towards the Lima Bean hand in hand. Rachel had driven them, after texting Blaine, Kurt and Mercedes that they would be along soon, taking the long route to point out a number of important sights. James had sat there gazing at her affectionately while she talked, giving her his full attention as she always had when she talked to him; a feeling of complete adoration that she had never felt from anyone else in her life.

As they walked into the Lima Bean, thanking James as he held the door for her, she pulled him in after her. As they stepped forwards, she saw her three friends sat at a corner booth. Turning to James, she opened her mouth to tell him who they were but he simply nodded at her that he understand, as she released his hand and she walked over ahead to hug her friends; with James hanging slightly back.

"Hey guys" She said, as she released Blaine, turning to introduce them to James. "This is my boyfriend, James"

"Hey Kurt" He said softly, as he stepped forward and pulled Kurt into a hug. When they stepped away from one another, he turned and offered his hand to Blaine.

"You must be Blaine?" James asked, smiling.

"I am, it's good to meet you" Blaine said shaking his hand, returning the smile before he turned to Rachel and winked at her. James then turned to Mercedes, who pulled him into an embrace. Rachel laughed as she pulled back and saw the look of surprise on his face.

"Nice to meet you too…" He said, a smirk on his face.

"I'm Mercedes" She replied. The five of them went to sit down at the booth, and Rachel raised an eyebrow as James hesistated. Reaching out to touch his arm, he looked at her smiling.

"You okay babe?" She asked softly, seeing Mercedes whisper into Blaine's ear with a smile on her face.

"We haven't got coffee yet…unless you weren't planning on staying long" He said with an amused expression on his face. Giggling, she moved to stand and follow him when he pressed a hand gently on her shoulder. "It's alright, I remember what you drink"

"You remember my coffee order?" She asked, biting her lip; touched at the fact he remembered that about her.

"I remember everything about you" He said, winking leaning over and kissing her cheek. When he pulled away to head over to the till, Rachel blushed as she moved her gaze to her friends. The three of them were smiling at her.

"Babe?" Kurt teased, Rachel giggled.

"It's something that's just become comfortable while we chat on the phone" She smiled and the four of them laughed.

"So…what do you guys think?" She asked shyly.

"He's even cuter in person" Blaine remarked, placing his hand on Kurt's as he rolled his eyes.

"Does he play football?" Mercedes asked,biting her lip. "He's very….fit"

Rachel looked at her, before breaking out into a fit of giggles as the others laughed along with her. Pressing a hand to her cheek, she leaned forward. "He doesn't, but he's just very careful about his health"

"I'll say" Kurt remarked. The three of them, sat talking for a few minutes before James came back over carrying two coffee's. James handed her one of them, sliding into the booth alongside her. Instinctively, as if it was the most natural thing in the world Rachel leaned against him as his arm went around her shoulder, his hand dangling over her chest.

"So you all go to McKinley together right?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee; blissfully ignorant to the smiles on their faces at how comfortable James and Rachel seemed to be at sharing their personal space.

"Me and Mercedes do" Kurt remarked

"I go to Dalton" Blaine said, softly and Rachel looked up at James as he nodded taking a sip of coffee as he listened to him talk. She smiled at how attentative he was being to her friend; "It's an expensive private school, but its worth it to not have to deal with bullying"

"I can imagine" James said, smiling slightly. "Yeah, we have a no tolerance policy at Stanley as well, that's where I go to school back home in Oregon"

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself" Mercedes replied, and Rachel smiled as she listened to James tell the three of them about himself. Rachel loved how expressive he was, confident and laid back as he talked; he was sure of who he was and wasn't afraid of it. As he talked about his love of music, she watched as the other three met her eyes and they gave her a knowing look; as if it made sense how the two of them had bonded. It was clear that James and Rachel shared that passion for performing, and it was true; James spoke about how he loved Broadway musicals and of his dream to perform as an actor one day – the determination that showed through as he spoke reminded her so much of herself. She leaned her head against his shoulder as he talked, staring at their intertwined fingers in her lap.

"So yeah, that's pretty much everything about me…apart from this summer and meeting this beautiful girl here" He said, and she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head.

"You two are so cute together" Blaine said, and Rachel looked up at James affectionately; tilting her head kiss the underside of his jaw. "Kurt said that you're in the glee club at your school?"

"Yeah" James replied nodding. "I'm the Male lead, well lead overall I guess. My friends put a lot of trust in me to perform a large amount of our songs"

"We do something similar at Dalton" Blaine agreed nodding.

"We fight for leads at McKinley" Rachel laughed, and Mercedes and Kurt joined in.

The five of them sat around in the coffee shop for around another hour, chatting about music tastes as well as questioning James some more about his background. Rachel smiled and listened as he held conversations with her friends; happy that he had fit right in with the three she was closest to.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The day had been perfect, Rachel thought to herself as she stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom. Having James back in her life, even if it was for a short amount of time, was better than she could have ever imagined. He had looked so handsome, and she had spent the day making sure to stay as close to him as possible; whether that be by holding his hand and linking her fingers with his at every opportunity she got or by leaning into his side whenever they were sat down next to one another, which Rachel had made sure was every time they were seated.

They had spent a couple of hours hanging around with Blaine, Kurt and Mercedes at the Lima Bean drinking cups of coffee as James got to know her three closest friends and as they got to know her boyfriend better. As James had kissed her before heading off to the bathroom to freshen up before they went home, Rachel had turned to the other two that had never met him before and asked them what they thought of him.

"So, what do you think about him?" Rachel asked nervously, touching her lips with her fingers were he had just kissed her. The tingling sensation was still there, and she felt heat in her stomach at how he affected her. Rachel had never felt this way before, and her thoughts lingered back to in the guest room at her house when she had felt aroused and turned on as he had her pinned against the door, how good the feeling of her leg wrapped around him pulling him flush up against her as they kissed furious and passionately. She was snapped out of her daze when she heard Blaine's voice.

"He seems like a really nice guy" Blaine said, and she looked at him to see him smiling widely at her and Rachel started biting her lip as she grinned. "We can tell that you both care about each other"

"Yeah, that boy has it crazy for you" Mercedes replies grinning. Rachel blushes, nodding. "He seems to be perfect for you, he loves music and Broadway almost as much as you it seems."

"Rachel, don't take this wrong way; but he seems to mellow you out as well, you seem less…Rachel berry crazy around him" Blaine asks, reaching hand forward and offering it to her. Rachel smiles nods and takes it.

"It's okay, I know what you mean" Rachel replied. The same thought had come across her mind several times over the time she had known James. In the past, when she would be more eccentric; her mind running wild and often it put people off with her high maintenance nature and personality. It was all part of the fact that she wanted things too badly, and she knew that a lot of people found that hard to deal. When she was around James, she felt a lot more at peace and comfortable. There was something about her that didn't need to overthink things, she could simply be. Even when she did go slightly over the top, rather than be put off or insult her about her personality as had happened in the past, he accepted that part of her and just dealt with her as casually as he always did. That was down to the calm and tranquil nature of his personality that seemed to pass over onto her. "It just feels so natural being around him, that I don't need to try to be anything but myself with him and he's so amazing with who I am."

A few minutes later, James had returned; kissing her neck before he sat back down next to her and she settled into his side feeling as comfortable as always did around him. they had stayed in the Lima Bean for another quarter hour before they had departed, and Rachel was happy to see that James embraced Blaine and Mercedes warmly adding that he looked forward to seeing them again before they walked hand in hand towards her car.

"You seemed like you had fun" She said happily, looking up at him as she walked closely to his body.

"Your friends are great, I really like Blaine" He replied, smiling at her; opening the door to her car for her.

"Such a gentlemen" She said smiling as he leaned down and kissed her cheek, before walking around the other side of the car and joining her. She set of driving, and James was leaning with his arm on the open window letting the wind blow in as he sung along to an Aerosmith song on the radio. Giggling, she looked at him and he gave her a curious raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing" She replied, and he smirked at her.

"Are we going to see any more of your friends today? Or do you have something else planned?" He asked, moving one of his hands to clasp hers as it rested on the rest in between their two seats.

"Not today, my Dad's want to take us to dinner" She says, smiling. "I was thinking we could see a movie after that"

"Sounds great, as long as we can sit and cuddle when we're there" He said winking at her.

"My favourite thing to do" She giggled. And he moved his head to gazing out of the window they sat in silence for several minutes while she held his hand still. "You want to meet my friends then?"

He turned and gazed at her confused. "What? Of course, you've met mine. Well some of them"

"I just wondered….Noah is having a party tomorrow and I wasn't sure if you wanted to go. All the guys from Glee are going to be there, as well as some of his friends from football and stuff. Sort of like a party before we go back to school" She finished shrugging her shoulders.

"Do you want to go?" He asked, as they pulled into her street.

"If you want to" She replied, biting her lip and he rolled his eyes.

"You are adorable" He said smirking, "We can go, I guess, as long as you don't abandon me"

"I wouldn't dream of it" She replied, leaning over and kissing him softly on the lips. "It'll be great I promise"

The two of them had walked inside, and checked in with her Dad who said Hiram would be home from work in a about an hour and their dinner reservation was for about 7 oclock that night. Smiling, James had said he was going to call his mom, and Rachel had led him up to her room where they were now. James was walking around talking to his mom as she was sat on her bed watching him smiling. He'd been talking to her, and Rachel was listening curiously as he had turned to speaking into Italian. As he turned around and strode towards her, he winked at her and sat down next to her putting an arm around her and Rachel slide into his side comfortably. She could hear his mom speaking the phone. A few more minutes passed before he switched back to English.

"I will mom, Rachel's dads are being amazing and they're taking us out to dinner tonight" He said, placing his head on top of hers. "I will, yeah mom. I love you, tell Charlie I'll call her tomorrow. Yeah, night mom"

He hung up the hair and placed his phone down on the bed before wrapping his arm around her and pulled her closer to his body. Sighing happily, Rachel closed her eyes nuzzling his neck with her nose. They sat there for a few minutes before she kissed his neck and pulled back slightly to look at him.

"Hey… I was comfortable there" He moaned softly and she giggled at him, placing a hand on his cheek.

"What did your mom say?" She asked smiling at him, his eyes looked down for a split second before finding hers again. In that split second, Rachel knew something wasn't quite right and she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

"My Dad decided that he wanted to pick this week to be at home" He admitted and leaned his forehead against hers. "I started speaking in Italian because…well I had a few choice things I wanted to say and I didn't want you to hear"

"It's okay…I get that your upset" She said and kissed his cheek, when she pulled back she saw that he was smiling at her. "You and your Dad will work things out eventually, but just remember that he doesn't do it on purpose"

He nodded at her, closing his eyes for a moment. "I guess you're right"

"Come on, let's go and watch some TV and snuggle up together" She said, smiling at him causing him to chuckle before she stood and took his hand in hers, intertwining his fingers and leading him down the stairs.

….

The two of them had sat cuddling on the couch in her living room as they watched a rerun of How I Met your Mother. Rachel had been reluctant at first, but James had given her an adorable look and started kissing her neck that had made her mind go blank and she had given way to him. When her Daddy had come home from work, she had jumped up and hugged him tightly before Hiram had steered away from him and extended a hand out to James who clasped it with a confident look on his face.

The four of them had sat in the kitchen talking for a half hour, Hiram interested in how James' holiday in Ohio had been so far. After they finished talking, Rachel scurried upstairs to change her clothing. The restaurant that her Dad's were treating them to was a fancy restaurant and she decided to dress up nicely; partly for that but also she wanted to dress nicely and impress James. Twenty minutes later and she was stood in front of her mirror, admiring herself. She was wearing a tight red dress that hugged her body perfectly. Her hair was flowing down her back, and she had put a little makeup on. Twsiting in front of the mirror she smiled, knowing that she looked good. Head over to her door, she picked up the black jacket she was going to wear later on, and headed downstairs. Her dads along with James were standing in the hallway talking silently as she came down the stairs. As she nearly reached the bottom, Leroy who was facing her smiled and James turned around to look at her. He was wearing a black dress pants, and a tightly fitted black shirt that was unbuttoned at the top as well as a leather jacket over the top. His fluffy hair looking extra curly just as if it had been washed just a short amount of time ago. He looked very handsome, and as she stopped taking in his appearance, their eyes met and she him looking at her with complete astonishment on his face as well as a look of complete affection in his eyes. As she reached the bottom step, he moved forward and offer her his hand, taking it as she stepped close to him. She let out a breath as he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and leaned down to kiss her softly.

"You are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" He whispered as they tore away from each other and she gazed upwards at him and grinned widely.

"Thank you" She replied, leaning up and kissing him once more, before intertwining their fingers and turning to her dads.

"You look beautiful sweetie" They said in unison and she couldn't help but giggle.

Dinner had been a success. For an hour and half they had sat in a corner of the restaurant talking as they ate. Rachel was happy as she sat next to James, leaning across the gap in their seats so that their shoulders met as well as clasping his hand under the table as she rested hers on his knee. She looked at him with affection as he talked confidently with her dads, not shying away from talking to them and even joining in with teasing them as they attempted the same with him. She smiled, glad that they got on so well with her boyfriend, unable to remember a time when they were so open and accepting of a boy considering they had been suspicious of all the ones they had seen her with in the past.

After dinner, Rachel and James drove to the cinema, letting James drive her car, as her Dad's went home. After deciding on the film they were gong to watch, the two of them settled down together sharing some popcorn as they cuddled closely. About ten minutes into the film, she had felt James shifting beside her as he pushed the armrest up and scooted closer to her, pulling into close to him. Giggling as quietly as she could, she tilted her head up to meet him as he leaned down to kiss her. As she felt his other hand that wasn't resting on her shoulder gentle rub her thigh she realised that he had no intention of watching the film, in fact he seemed more interested about learning the inside of her mouth in intimate detail as she smiled against his lips. Luckily the cinema was both quiet and that they had chosen seats far at the back to avoid being looked at by the people sat behind them. By the time he pulled away, kissing her forehead as she snuggles into his side, before he rested his head against hers, they realised that the two of them had missed a large majority of the film. Whispering to one another, they tried to watch the last half hour piecing together what was going on.

By the time they got home, it was past midnight and as they snuck into her house as quietly as possible, her Dad's having been in bed for at least an hour for work the next day, Rachel was glad that her curfew had been extended for the few days James was visiting. They had walked up to her room, and after spending a further half an hour making out on her bed becoming more acquainted with one another's bodies, she managed to get him to leave after her hands had started to dive under his shirt. Breathlessly he had nodded at her, kissing her softly on the lips before saying goodnight and leaving her to catch her breath as she got ready for bed. As she led in bed a little while later, she had a gigantic smile on her face. Yeah, this was going to be amazing spending the next few days with him.

…

The next morning Rachel woke up to a knocking on her door. Groaning at being woken up before her alarm, she leaned over and looked at her clock, seeing that it was a half hour before her alarm was due to go off at eight. Frowning, she rolled back and settled her head backwards into her pillow.

"Come in" She shouted, and glanced over as the door opened. Her face split into a gigantic smile as she saw James appear in the doorway. "Hey"

"Morning beautiful" James replied, his voice slightly groggy as it resonated with tiredness despite the wide smile he wore. She sat up in bed and laughed as she saw him still wearing his pyjama's , a white tshirt and pair of baggy blue pants, while carrying a tray with a couple of glasses of orange juice as well as a plate piled with several pieces of toast. As he got closer, she bit her lip at the sight of a flower on the tray.

"Awww, is that for me?" She cooed as he sat the tray down on her bed in front of her, leaning over to kiss her on the lips. She licked her top lip with her tongue as he pulled back and grinned at her.

"For us, I thought that I would us some breakfast; and give you a surprise at the same time" He replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and running his hand up and down her arm.

Glancing at him with affection she pushed the covers back and patted the spot in bed next to her. Laughing softly, he climbed in next to her and she pulled the covers back over them as he leaned over and kissed her cheek softly. Smiling, she pulled the tray towards them and set it across her lap. James reached and took his glass of juice and took a sip as she helped herself to a piece of toast. They ate in silence for a little while, with one of each of their hands linked under the top of the cover. Settling her glass back down some time later, Rachel moved and placed the tray on her bedside table before lifting James' arm over her shoulder and snuggling to his side,sighing contently as he leaned his head on top of hers.

"That was perfect, the best way to wake up. A handsome guy with breakfast in bed" She said softly, and felt him smile again her head. "You really didn't need to do it though, you're my guest"

He laughed, and felt him tilt her chin up for her to look at him, and she smiled as she saw the look in his eyes. Leaning down he kissed her gently on the lips, before pulling back to whisper; "You're my girlfriend, and you deserve everything I do for you"

She gulped as she saw the truthfulness in his eyes as he spoke to her, and leaned up to kiss him again. They shared a few chaste kisses before she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, smiling as she felt his hand pull her closer as they deepened the kiss. She moaned softly as her bedroom door opened with a creak and she sprung away from his lips quickly as Hiram's face appeared in the doorway.

"Morning " James smiled, his hand under the covers squeezing hers softly.

"Morning, did you like James' surprise sweetheart?" He asked, smiling over at them.

"I did" She replied, snuggling into him a bit closer. "We're just going to stay and cuddle in bed for a bit Daddy"

"Alright, baby girl" He replied smiling. "I'm going to the shop to pick some things up, I'll be back in a couple of hours"

"Bye Daddy" She replied, closing her eyes as he waved closing the door on them. Turning her attention back to James, she winked mischievously at him before leaning close to him. "I guess that means we have the house to ourselves for a little while"

She watched as he licked his bottom lip before he replied; "What did you have mind Ms Berry?"

Smirking, Rachel leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. They spent a good amount of the morning in bed with one another, making out for a half hour before she went into the bathroom to freshen up while he went to go make them a snack. For the rest of the morning, and a little while into the afternoon the two of them stayed in her room watching variety of musicals on her DVD player in between sharing kisses and talking to one another. As the end credits of Chicago rolled up, she sighed against his chest, his arms wrapped around her as she led against him. Turning to face him, Rachel smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I think we should get up, I had a plan for us go to the mall today" She murmured softly as he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck in response.

"Yeah, I guess so" He replies, and leant his forehead against hers "Your Dad might not be too impressed if we stay here much longer as well…"

Giggling she sat up in bed and kissed him, before climbing out of bed, pulling him with her. "Go on, go get changed, and I'll do the same then we can go out"

They spent the rest of the afternoon walking around hand in hand around the Lima mall. She drove them, as they sung along to the radio laughing and giggling at each other, enjoying being around the company of the person they cared about. Rachel noticed that James had a look of surprise on his face as they entered the mall for the first time before he told her that he was surprised a mall in Ohio was bigger than the one he had in his hometown. Giggling, she had nudged him forward towards a vegan option in the food court as they sat around eating for a short time. Rachel took the oppurtunity to tell him about the time Kurt and Noah held a Barbara intervention when she broke her nose before nationals, to which he laughed and then assured her he thought her nose was absolutely perfect.

After that she dragged him into a clothes shop, that despite his objections she knew he was enjoying himself as Rachel tried on a number of different outfits and paraded them in front of him. Every time she showed him a different set of clothes, she felt like the most beautiful girl as she saw the look on James face. He told him vocally that she looked incredible and while she believed him, the look in his eyes told her everything and she confidently walked up to him and kissed him.

In the end Rachel ended buying some new pieces for her wardrobe, thriving under the attention of her boyfriend who seemed truly mesmerized by her. After entering a couple of shops where James bought a couple of gifts for his mom, the two of them decided that they would pause for coffee, sitting down at the Starbucks before they headed back to her house.

"So, that party your friend is throwing is tonight?" James asked, one of his clasped tightly in hers as the other held onto his coffee. Looking at him she nodded as she spoke

"Yeah it's at my friend Noah's house. I've known him since I was four years old my dads went to the same synagogue as his family" Rachel replied smiling.

James nodded smiling and then any took a drink of his coffee. Rachel looked at in curiously and then squeezed his hand slightly. Leaning forward slightly in her chair she asked him softly what's wrong

James raised his eyebrows at her curiously and then replies "would you mean"

Rachel says you don't seem very interested

"James chuckles and then replies od course I am. I'm just wondering who is going to be there

You mean you mean you wondering if Finn going to be there

James smirks and then nods his head slowly speaking gently as he moves his other hand to cover their linked ones. "Yeah I was wondering if he was going to be there... and I know that you're not in love with him any more but"

"But what" Rachel asks squeezing his hand reassuringly

"I don't want to put you in the position where you going to be upset if you see him. Are sure you're okay to see you?"

"I am" Rachel replies and smiles at James "I guess maybe a little bit nervous about you to be in the same room together "

I won't say anything to him promise" James says reassuringly "I trust you, and I trust you to deal with it however you think is best and you don't need me to make things worse and provoke him. I don't want to look for any trouble"

Rachel looks at him and smiles and then leans into kisses him softly on the lips and she pulls back she smiles again, "You're the best"

The two of them sit in the coffee shop for another half an hour more, as they finish their drinks, laughing and talking about who of her friends are going to be at Noah's party. While she doesn't mention it to James, internally Rachel is a little bit worried about who is at the party. As she keeps the smile on the face as she listens to tell her about the party he has back in Oregon, Rachel tries to reassure her nerves about the fact that she knows that some of Noah's football friends will most likely be there. Having struggled with being bullied by the football guys Rachel is more than a little a bit apprehensive about going tonight even though she is friends with Noah, she's never really been considered popular as he has and she is worried that they might take the opportunity to start the harassment of her in the glee club earlier than when school returns

Afterwards the walk under hands which is car and she drives them home nothing is the main RUA2 was the front door Rachel is the key to let the men and she is singing for in the kitchen looking James are the curious expression and smile that the two of them walking to the kitchen. Hiram is in the kitchen, here singing along as he cooks something at the oven. Giggling as James grins at her, she walks up in be behind him before leaning up and placing a kiss on her Dads cheek. Hiram stops singing at feeling of his daughter kissing him on the cheek, he turns around and smiled at both of them brightly.

"Hey Daddy"

"Hey sweetheart" Hiram replied, kissing his daughter on the forehead. Afterwards he turned and winked at James. "James"

"Sir" She watched him say as he poured a drink of water. James walked over and looked into the pan Hiram was standing over "What are you making?"

"Rachel's favourite bean soup" Hiram responded, and Rachel smiled up at her Dad. "I know you two are going over to Noah Puckerman's, but I thought we could have dinner before you do"

"That sounds great" James says smiling, and then leans over it "And that smells amazing"

Hiram laughed, and Rachel giggled. "Thank you, I'm glad you approve"

"It really does smell amazing, Daddy" Rachel spoke softly, walking over and standing with her back pressed against James as his arms wrapped around her.

"What have you two kids been up to today then?" Hiram asked, walking over to the sink and washing his hands. Rachel leaned back and rested her head against James chest.

"We went shopping, I bought a few new pieces for my wardrobe. I'm planning on wearing one of them tonight I think." Rachel said, and then looked up at her boyfriend. "James bought some presents for his mom and sister"

"What did you get them?" Hiram asked, leaning back against the counter opposite the two.

"Some perfume that my mom likes" James replied, leaning his head on Rachel's shouder. "Charlie really likes those charms you can put on bracelets and necklaces, so I get her one of those"

After spending a little longer talking to Hiram, before he left them on their alone to make a phonecall. The two of them moved into the lounge and sat cuddled together on the couch as they watched more reruns of How I met your mother, Rachel having given into watching it today as she had enjoyed it the previous day despite her previous objections. She wanted her and James to share the things that they loved with one another and when they were in the same place that they would watch and enjoy them together. Even though James loved musicals, she knew that he wasn't as obsessed with them as she was, particularly her love of musical marathons as they had enjoyed in the morning but he sat through them with her and sung along with her as they watched. She appreciated having someone who actually took the time to enjoy the things she loved, rather than sitting through them daydreaming and having no idea what was actually going on. In this situation, Rachel wanted to put the same effort in to programmes and movies that he loved to watch.

After a couple of episodes, Rachel was sat with her legs over James lap as he rubbed her thigh, sending a tingling sensation up her leg even through the jeans she was wearing, while leaning her head on his shoulder. When Leroy came home, she felt her cheeks flush as he smiled at seeing them in a cosey position on the couch. As James greeted him, her Dad leaned down and kissed her forehead before shaking James' hand in the manner they had established since the first time they met in New York.

"Have a good day you two?" He asked sitting on the couch armrest. Thankful that James had sensed her discomfort at her Dad seeing them in such an intimate position, James stilled his hands movement on her thigh, and shooting him a smile, Rachel moved her legs from his lap and sat up putting a small amount of distance between them; but moved her hand to clasp his, intertwining their fingers to keep a small amount of intimacy.

"Yeah we did, Sir" James spoke, winking at her. "Rachel showed me the Ohio Mall, and we went shopping for a few bits"

"She didn't get you spending your money on her did she?" Leroy asked, causing him and James to laugh while she sat there with a blush on her face.

"Not yet, I'm sure she'll try eventually" James replied, and she shot him a teasing glare at his comment. It faded quickly, as he smirked at her and squeezed her hand softly.

Rachel smiled at him, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "I'll have you wrapped around my finger in no time"

He laughed at her and moved to kiss her, as Leroy spoke again. "Where's your dad, Rachel?"

"Upstairs, he had a phonecall to make." Rachel replied, blushing a little bit. "He made his bean soup for dinner, we were just waiting for you to come home"

"If you want to go wash up and get the table ready, I'll go tell him I'm home" Leroy said standing up and squeezing her arm softly before heading for the stairs.

"Come on beautiful" James said, standing up and offering her his hand to help her. Grinning, she took his hand and stood as he led her into the kitchen.

The four of them were sat eating at the kitchen table a little while later. Rachel ate silently as she watched James holding a conversation with Leroy about the upcoming football season. While both her Dad's loved Broadway and musicals as much as she did, her Dad was different than her and Hiram in that he was a sports fan. She smiled as she saw her Dad interacting with her boyfriend. When Finn had joined them for dinner, he didn't know how to interact with them as easily and smoothly as James had done. He seemed comfortable and at ease, and was able to hold an engaging conversation rather than simple short answers.

After her Dads dismissed them, telling James that he was a guest in their home and would not even think about offering to help them wash up after dinner, sending the two of them to get ready to head over to Noah's for the party; Rachel gave James a kiss before disappearing into her room to have a shower and get herself ready.

A half hour later and she was doing her hair in the mirror in her room, deciding to pull it up into a bun at the top of her head; letting her bangs fall free, she decided to place some strawberry lip gloss on her lips, as well as a small amount of eye liner and blusher. Standing up from her dressing table, still wearing her dressing robe, she moved over and walked into her wardrobe looking over the clothes she had hung up after her shopping with James earlier. Biting her lip, she decided on wearing the short black dress she had bought and the white jacket she had gotten in New York.

A little while later after giving herself final lookover in the mirror, wearing her Rachel necklace, she headed over to the guest room knocking once before she opened it. As she stepped in, she saw a couple of shirts laid out on the bed. Biting her lip, she took a moment to observe what had become his room. It was tidy, curiously saw for a room that a guy inhabited, with all of his things placed organized on the cabinet and table sides.

Walking over to the bed she saw that it was made, and except for the pillows not being as full as normal with marks where James head has dinted the pillow. Smiling she ran her hands over the framed picture of him stood with his mom and sister on the bedside cabinet. Frowning slightly, she saw a man stood behind him with his hands on James' shoulders. As she took in the picture she realised that the man must be his father, smiling as she recognized the same black curly hair on both the father and son, as well as the same well-built shoulders and strong jaw. He wasn't as tall as his father, but only shorter by around an inch or so. She wondered how long ago the picture was taken, remembering that his father hadn't been around much, guessing it must have been taking in the past year or so considering James looked about the same age as he was now.

She was distracted when she heard the ensuite bathroom to the guestroom open, and she turned to see James walking into the room drying his hair with a towel. Smiling she saw him move the towel and wipe his shoulders shooting her a wide grin.

"Hey babe" James said, walking over and kissing her on the lips gently.

"Hi" She replied, biting her lip as he stepped back and finished drying himself, chucking the towel on the table by the desk in the room. Her mouth opened as she realised that he was topless as he turned back around to face her. He wore a pair of black slim jeans and a leather belt, but apart from that he had nothing else on. Her eyes roamed over his upper body, focusing on the well-defined abs on his chest and the visible V.

Gulping as he walked over to the bed and picked up the two shirts from the bed, her eyes were glued to him. It was difficult to look away for her, she had only seen someone so fit and muscular, apart from when Sam had performed for Rocky Horror the year before. She knew that James looked after himself, but she had never thought she'd see exactly how well until now and when he faced her again holding the shirts up she looked down blushing.

"Rachel?" He asked, and she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, smiling nervously at the raised eyebrow. He stepped forward and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, smiling as he pulled back. "What's wrong?"

"I…." She said, feeling her cheeks blush even further. "I've never seen you….without your top before"

He looked at her for a second, before glancing down at himself, and as he returned his gaze to her a sly smile crossed his face. "Having a hard time concentrating?"

She nodded at him, biting her lip as he leaned in and captured her lips with his again. She raised her hands to his face, cupping his cheeks tenderly, not trusting her hands not to roam over his body and so she focused them on somewhere she knew they wouldn't get a mind of their own. After a few minutes, she pulled back and grinned at him. "You nearly ready?"

"Yeah, I just need your opinion on which shirt I should wear" He said holding them up again and she couldn't help but giggle at him. He had been getting ready the same amount of time she had, and he wasn't ready yet. "What?"

"You're such a diva" She replied, placing a hand on his cheek. "you're taking more time than me to get ready"

"Hey, I resent that" He said smirking at her "besides, I told you I want to make a good impression on your friends"

"You're actually nervous" Rachel giggled, tilting her head to gaze at him "Mr hotshot national champion is actually nervous of a few high school seniors"

"Teasing aside" James laughed, before looking at her seriously. "I am. These are people you go to school with, your friends. I'm going to be compared…well compared to Finn and I want to make a good impression"

Rachel placed a hand on his cheek again, stroking his cheek tenderly. Smiling softly, she couldn't help but feel upset by what he said. She was over the past relationship with Finn, but knowing that James was feeling threatened by the fact that her ex was around her friends more than he was; and the fact that made him uncomfortable and nervous about meeting them tonight brought the pain back. She wanted him to feel welcome amongst the people she interacted every day at school.

"Hey" She kissed him softly. After a few chaste kisses, she pulled back resting her forehead against his. "you don't need to be threatened by Finn. Kurt loves you, so do Blaine and Mercedes. Finn is in the past, and you and me; you and me are the present and future. Even if they don't like you, which I find impossible considering how amazing you are, I am never going to break up with you because of what they think. I only care about the fact that I like you, I like you a lot. Okay?"

He smiled at her, nodding against her before leaning down and kissing her again. "Okay, sorry for being so stupid. I know you and I are."

"Don't apologize" She said, kissing his cheek. "And for the record, that light blue one make you look even more handsome than normal"

He smirked at her, nodding and placing the other green shirt down his bed; before pulling the shirt she had picked for him on. Turning back to face her, he winked as he started buttoning it up. Watching him, she smiled as she watched his fingers fumbling with the buttons; the nervousness he tried to reassure her wasn't there coming clearly through in the tiniest of action. Stepping forward, she placed her hands over his and squeezed them reassuringly.

"Relax. Let me" She smiled, and he nodded dropping his hands to his side and letting her finish buttoning his shirt up. As she reached the last one, Rachel left it open and moved her hands to his face, pushing his fluffy fringe back out of his forehead and stroking his cheek before pulling him for a kiss.

The two of them spent a good ten minutes kissing in the guest room, Rachel feeling especially close to him and glad that she could do anything to help him feel more reassured and relax about meeting her friends from school. As they separated and headed down the stairs, he told her that she looked gorgeous, which made her giggle and feel a million dollars just as every time he told her how good she looked. Saying goodnight to her Dads, as they would likely be in bed before the two of them came home from the party, they walked hand in hand towards Noah's house. Planning on drinking a couple alcoholic drinks, she and James had talked it before they left and he had said he didn't want to drink that much and she only agreed to drink a little before they would both stop, neither of them would be fit to drive later that night.

A little while later as they turned into Noah's block, they saw that there were several students from McKinley were heading towards his house as well. It was a good job that most of Noah's neighbours either didn't care, or where on holiday so that they could have such a large party without the chance of the police turning up. Stopping just short of the house, seeing that there were more people than she had originally thought would be going, she turned and kissed James again, muttering words of reassure as they started walking up the garden path to the house. Following some of the kids that she recognized from the swimming team through the front door, they were quickly engulfed by a large amount of students stood around and music blasting loudly through several stereo speakers.

"Wow…these all Noah's friends?" James said in her ear, pulling her close to speak. She smiled looking at him and kissing him.

"No, but you know how things get…word spreading fast and everything" She replied, licking her lip before intertwining a hand in his and walking into the kitchen. "Lets find Noah"

They walked into the kitchen, and glad that her intuition of where to find him was correct, they saw him stood talking to Mike, Santana and Brittany. Waving, as Noah raised the bottle of beer he had in his hand as a call for them to come over, she and James walked over.

"There's my hot little jewish princess" He said smugly, hugging him as they approached before pulling back and smacking him on the arm playfully. "Glad you could make it"

"Hot, I don't think we've been introduced" Rachel heard Santana's voice, and she turned to see her with a hand on James' arm as he looked at her with an uncomfortable look on his face

"Hi…ummm, I'm James, Rachel's boyfriend" He said, looking at her and shooting her a grin. Giggling, she returned to his side and wrapped an around his back as he placed his arm on her shoulder as she leaned into his side in that familiar comfortable position.

"So you're the hottie she dumped Frankenteen for" Santana smirked, "Definitely an improvement, good choice Hobbit"

"Thank you Santana…" Rachel said rolling her eyes. She wondered when things would ever stop with the name calling, but she remembered how mad the cheerleader had been after nationals, and she guessed that it was at least an improvement over being screamed at in Spanish and having to be protected from Santana's wrath by her glee club teammates.

"Your hair is really curly and fluffy" Brittany remarked, gazing at his hair with her head titled.

"Umm…thanks" James replied confused, gazing down at her. Rachel giggled and whispered in his ear just to go with it. She heard Noah cough, and she looked at him to see him with lips pursed eyeing up her new boyfriend.

"Noah" He said simply, extending his hand out to James, whose eyes flickered from it to meet the mohawked guys eyes again before he moved his to grasp it.

"James, nice to meet you" He said, shaking Noah's hand a few times before they separated.

"You want a drink dude?" Noah asked, offering him a beer from the case on the side. James' eyes flicked to hers before he nodded and took it from him.

"Yeah, cheers man" He said taking a sip, and Rachel smiled as she saw Noah smirk and nod his head at her with an impressed look on his face. She rolled her eyes as he winked at her, understanding that James had passed Noah's silent test and had his approval to date his jewish princess.

….

Rachel and James spent a good half an hour stood talking in the kitchen with Noah, Santana and Brittany. Noah in particular, having heard nothing apart from the fact that James was from Oregon and has apparently become Rachel's boyfriend, was eager to get to know him and he was the one who spent the largest times asking James about himself. After a half of an hour or so, the two cheerleaders left and were replaced by Mike and Tina.

The conversation eventually, and predictably the three guys started talking about football, leaving the two girls to roll their eyes at each other before Rachel winked at Tina and turned to her boyfriend.

"I'm going to see if I can find the rest of the glee club kids" She said, leaning up and kissing James on the lips softly, interrupting what he has been saying to Noah, and she smiled as he turned his head to look at her as she pulled away.

"Okay you want me to come with you?" He asked, but she shook head and raised his hand to kiss his knuckles before releasing her grip on him.

"No it's okay, me and Tina are going to go, you stay and get to know Noah and Mike better" she replied smiling at him reassuringly.

He nodded and as she and Tina turned to walk away he has already begun talking to the guys about what she had interrupted him.

"Boys" Tina said simply and the two of them laughed as they made their way into the lounge, were Noah had told them the glee kids where. "James seems nice"

"He's great" Rachel said biting her lip, happy to talk about him with her friend "I really like him"

"That's obvious" Tina replied "The two of you are so sweet with the little touches even if you aren't talking to one another"

Rachel blushed, thinking of how either of them would always reach to clasp the others hand if they were stood close by. It wasn't something planned, but any time she could she sought out his tender embrace as a reassurance and relaxing presence.

Rachel filled her in on some parts she hadn't heard about her and James as they made their way to the glee club. They found them sat together on the couch in Noah's front living room laughing and talking to one another. They greeted them, and Rachel noted that only the two guys who were with James and Quinn, who hadn't been seen all summer as Rachel had been told the previous weekend. Glancing at Finn who was stood talking to Santana, Rachel offered him a small smile which he bowed his head at she then sat down next to Kurt and Blaine who were talking to Lauren. She sat talking to the two along with and Lauren, as well as Mercedes who joined in their conversation after a few minutes, for half an hour; enjoying being in a casual social environment with her friends. She was pleasantly surprised about how relaxed it actually felt, she had thought being around so many students from McKinley would make it difficult for her, considering the level of abuse the glee club suffered while actually at school, but in the hour they had been there, no-one had said anything to her or the other glee club kids. When she brought the point up with them, Lauren insisted that her and Puck had got the school in line with their bad ass reputation and no one would do anything for fear of the intimidation that the two of them would inflict.

A little while later, on her second glass of wine, Rachel started to realize that she hadn't seen James in a good forty-five minutes. Biting her lip nervously, she craned her neck looking around the lounge and into the hallway to see if she could see him as she listened to Kurt and Mercedes talking about something she vaguely took account of. A few minutes passed, and as she stood up, telling Kurt and Blaine that she was going to go and find him when she felt a hand touching her arm. Turning around she saw that Finn had moved to talk to her.

Letting out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding in, she smiled at him. "Hi Finn"

"Hey Rachel" He said, smiling at her nervously. "Can we talk?"

"I need to find James" She said, turning her head away from her to see if he was coming to find her. "I don't think-"

"He's here?" Finn asks

"Yes, He's visiting me" She says, biting her lip. Feeling anger at what he had said to her rising up. "Unlike what you seem to think, he is a caring guy who-"

"I'm sorry about that...about everything that happened" He cut across her, and she frowned at him. While she had missed being friends with Finn, she wasn't prepared to accept his apology straight off. The things he had said about her, and about James were too fresh and too hurtful.

"That's good because you should be Finn" She said calmly, gazing at him as his eyes pleaded for her to accept his apology.

"Can we go back to being friends? I'd like to..." He replied, trailing off as he offered her his trademark half-smile. She couldn't help but hear the hopefulness in his voice, as if he didn't expect her to give him the time of day never mind accept her apology.

"Finn, I don't think we can" She said softly. "I wanted to be your friend, but now I think we need to take some not interacting with one another, not for a little while"

He looked at her, and she wondered if he understood what she was talking about. After a couple of seconds, he nodded at her and offered her a smile. "I'd like to be your friend again, however long it takes for you to forgive me. In time, I'd like to meet James as well, if that's okay. He must be a great guy to deserve you"

Smiling at him, Rachel touched his arm gently and when he looked down and smiled at the contact; she knew what it meant to him. In time she would be willing to consider being friends with him again, after she and he had time to think about what had happened between the two of them. She was touched that he was thinking about putting the fact she had a new boyfriend behind him, instead wanting to be her friend. Nodding at her finally he turned around and walked back to the couch.

Rachel headed out of the lounge, intending to find James, and as she headed into the hallway she was engulfed by the large amount of people who were there. Pushing past them, she searched for a few minutes before she felt a set of arms grip her by the waist, squealing as she turned into the person who had gripped her only to be greeted by the smirking face of her boyfriend.

"You alright? He asked as she pulled him down into an embrace, nuzzling her neck with his nose. As they pulled back she smiled at him and nodded, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips.

"I was looking for you" She replied, her breath on his ear as she pulled back and settled into his side. Looking around she saw that he was still talking to Mike and Noah. Smiling at them as they wore smirks at the noise she had made, she felt her cheeks flushing. "You been with these two the entire time?"

"Yeah, sorry babe. We got talking and didn't realize the time had passed" He said, as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It's okay baby" She said, turning her head to kiss his shoulder. "You guys getting to know each other then?"

"Yeah, your boy is pretty cool" Mike replied. She stood next to him for another quarter of an hour as they finished whatever they were talking about. She listened vaguely as they talked about some football team. Watching them interact was interesting, despite the fact that they had only known James for about an hour, they were talking with him as if they had known him for years. Smiling to herself as she stood leaning into him, this was exactly what she wanted when she talked to him about coming to the party; James to fit in and win her friends over. After a while she was getting bored about just standing there, wanting to spend some time with him alone, she agitatedly nuzzled his shoulder with her nose, knowing that he would understand.

After a couple of seconds, he kissed her forehead before turning to the other two. "It was really nice to meet you guys. I'm going to go get some air"

"Yeah dude, nice to talk to you too" Noah replied, and Mike nodded his confirmation.

Grasping his hand, she led him towards the back door. Squeezing past a few cheerleaders who shot her a curious glance at seeing her with a guy like James, they walked outside and headed towards the back of the small garden where a small picnic bench was. Thankful that it was mostly empty, with only a few people near the back door, she settled herself next to James as he drunk the rest of the beer he had in his hand before settling it down on the bench top. Cuddling closer to him, she smiled leaning her head on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her against him.

"You having a good time?" He asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her forehead.

"Yeah" Nodding against his shoulder. "I was talking to Kurt and Blaine for a while, then I realised I hadn't seen you in a while"

"Did you forget about me?" He asked teasingly, and she looked up at him and smirking.

"Because you were having such a horrible time talking about guy stuff with Noah and Mike" She replied giggling.

"There pretty cool guys" He replied as he leaned down and kissed her "I did miss you though"

"Good" She whispered before moving her hand to rest on the back of his neck and pull him in for another kiss. Smiling against her lips, she felt him deepen their kiss and the two of them sat there oblivious to anything else that was going on around them, simply enjoying some time alone.

...

**A/N : **

**Next chapter is rest of time James spends in Ohio and his departure. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The two of them managed to drag themselves away from their make out session in Noah's back garden after spending more than a half hour as just the two of them away from all the other people who were at the party. Rachel straightened his shirt, which she had kept firm hold of as she kissed him before the two of them headed back inside to find the rest of her friends. Smiling, with the faint blush on her cheeks that was there every time she made out with James, she walked hand in hand with him, pulling him through the hallway back into the living room. Rachel waved as they walked over, finding the glee club kids in the exact same position they had been a good forty minutes earlier; only this time the entire club were there now.

As they walked over, James let go of her hand and collapsed onto the couch next to Kurt, nudging him that made Rachel giggle at as Kurt rolled his eyes and turned away from her boyfriend. Heading over to the kitchen, she picked James up another beer and poured herself some more wine into a cup and walked back in, seeing that he was laughing at something Kurt had something to him. Smiling, she handed him the beer before turning and walking to go and sit by Mercedes when she felt a hand grab hers and pulled her around to him.

"Come here" He said applying a little bit of pressure, but not enough to force her comply with him, and with a smirk Rachel allowed him to pull her over and she sat willingly in his lap, leaning against his chest as he kissed her just beneath her ear. Instinctively she closed her eyes enjoying the contact of his lips on her skin. When she opened her eyes again she saw Finn looking at her with a sad smile, which she returned before pulling away from James touch on her. Turning her head she noticed him looking at her with a confused expression. Smiling at him, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on his lip, before pulling back slightly so that she left her lips lingering an inch away from his skin before she spoke softly.

"I don't want to make Finn feel uncomfortable" She said, pulling back and leaning her forehead on his, gazing into his eyes she saw them flick to the left and then back to hers.

"Is that him?" He asked, and she nodded knowing who he was talking about. She was glad when he didn't push the matter, simply moving his head away and turning back to talking to Kurt. Over the next hour she sat there on James' lap, because even though she didn't want to make Finn feel uncomfortable by watching her and James' PDA, he was her boyfriend and she couldn't not show him any affection at all that would be equally as wrong as rubbing it in her ex's face.

They talked to Blaine and Kurt for a while, before he started talking to Tina and Mercedes who were asking him, thanks to the benefits of the alcohol they had been drinking, more personal questions that they would have done normally, including if he had an equally handsome brother for them. Rachel was thankful she had known about his ex girlfriend before hand, as she felt awkward for him when he was attempting to explain it to two girls who were simply interested in seeing his abs.

Rachel had blushed furiously when Santana joined in on the conversation asking if the two of them had, in her normal crude way of speaking, "done the nasty" which James had laughed off telling her no all the while rubbing her back softly attempting to quell her nervousness. She enjoyed spending the time with him around her friends, and by the end of the night he had spoken to everyone but Finn, which she knew neither he nor Finn was particularly interested in doing right away. As it approached 1am, James had asked her if she wanted to head home as he pressed a kissed to her lips as Finn went into the kitchen to get a drink. Pulling away she nodded at him, asking if that was alright; knowing he was having a good time.

"Yeah" He replied, kissing her again, before moving his lips to her ear and whispering softly. "I want to get you on your own for a little while"

Giggling, she let out a short breath as he kissed her ear again, biting her lip as he pulled back and winked at her. Saying their goodbyes to all her friends, including hugging Finn, she left hand in hand with James as they walked to her house talking about the night. As they headed out of Noah's street, she felt his eyes on her.

"Did you talk to Finn tonight at all?" He asked, and she glanced at him seeing his face curved with a small smile

"Yes" She replied. She knew he was touchy on the issue after what he had said to her a week ago, but she wasn't going to lie and pretend that she hadn't. Part of her still wanted Finn to be her friend again. "He apologized for what he said about you, and asked if we could be friends again"

"You want to be" He commented softly, and Rachel nodded against his shoulder.

"I do" She said smiling, thankful in the knowledge that he was so understanding. "But not yet, I can't just forget what he said"

"He was upset when he said those things" He remarked, and she smiled. "You'd just told him that you had me. I can tell you, you're amazing; it would be hard for anybody to hear you didn't want them anymore"

"Thank you for understanding" She replied, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips. As she pulled back, he murmured don't worry about it. "So did you like meeting my friends?"

She listened happily as he told her that he liked all of her friends, in particular liking Santana's feisty side and Noah's no nonsense approach. Leaning into his side as they walked, his hand rubbing up and down her arm as it lay around her shoulders, she was incredibly happy about the fact that he had a good time. The one thing she had wanted to happen was for her friends to enjoy her new boyfriends company and the same for him and them.

As she had listened to them talking tonight and over the past few days she saw how he had worked to try and integrate himself into her circle of friends, he really wanted to make her happy. They turned into the driveway of her house, and as she reached into her bag to get her keys out she turned and kissed him before pulling him into her house.

Smiling against his lips, as he pulled her closer to him; wrapping his arms around her waist as her hands linked behind his neck, she backed herself up against the wall of her hallway, pulling him with her. Feeling particularly daring, both due to the couple of glasses of wine she had drank but also how much she enjoyed the feeling of his hands and lips on her body, Rachel opened her mouth and forced her tongue passed his lips and started duelling with him as he rubbed the sides of her body with his hands, all the while pressing closer to her. Rachel felt moans rising softly from her throat as he nipped at her lip with his teeth and sucked on her tongue, causing her to buck her hips gently. After a few minutes, she felt an urge to feel him closer against her body so she moved her leg up to wrap around his. She felt him smile against her lips, before he moved his lips to her neck; sucking on the skin softly which caused her to moan against his lips, as she did she felt her knee buckle causing her hand to jerk out and find something to grip onto. A second later, there was a crash and they separated before the two of them started laughing at the picture frames that had fallen off the table in the hallway. Pulling her back to him, Rachel giggled as he pressed another kiss to her lips before she felt him smirk against her lips as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Do you think your Dad's heard that?" He asked, pecking her softly once more as his hand came to stroke her cheek.

"I hope not" Rachel replied softly. Honestly, she didn't want them to leave the position they were in. as they stood pressed flush up against one another, in such an intimate position, with her leg wrapped around his. She felt comfortable, completely at ease while being turned on at the same time; feeling his arousal against her thigh made her feel incredible, knowing what affect her kisses had on his body; but also at knowing that while he had been kissing her neck he wouldn't pressure her into doing anything more than what they had been doing.

She felt his mouth on her neck again, and her eyes rolled as she bit her lip to control a moan, as they left a trail of wet kisses working their way to her lips again as he pressed a single one to them. Opening her eyes again she saw him looking at her with a smile, as he unwrapped her leg from around his and placed it back on the ground as he rubbed the outside of her thigh gently. She groaned at the loss of contact

"You okay?" He asked, leaning his forehead against hers as he let her stand away from the wall; something she was thankful for as she leaned into his arms.

"Yeah" She nodded "That just felt…really nice being so close to you"

"You are so beautiful" He said softly, staring into her eyes. Feeling her heart skip a beat at the intensity of his gaze as well as the words he had spoken, Rachel pulled his head down for another kiss; this time not daring to deepen it due to the heat she felt in her groin. She wasn't ready to do anything beyond what they had already done, but that didn't mean she wasn't incredibly turned on by his actions.

He must have followed a similar thought process as she refused to open her mouth as his tongue ran along her bottom lip. As they pulled away from their kiss, she saw him smirk at her, and she slapped his shoulder playfully as he spoke; "You turn me on as well, although you could probably feel it"

Giggling, she nodded and moved to place a kiss on his cheek before stepping out of his arms, moving to take one of his hands in hers. Glancing at the clock she saw how late it was, and guided him up the stairs.

"Goodnight" He whispered kissing her on the lips, which ended up last a few minutes longer than it should have done before he pulled away and waved at her before disappearing into her guest room.

Letting out a breath, she smiled as she turned around and walked down the hallway to her bedroom, careful to tiptoe past her dad's room as not to wake them up. Closing the door behind her, she sighed happily as she leaned against her door. Licking her lips, smiling that she could still taste him, Rachel made her way over to her bathroom to prepare herself for bed. A little while, she was climbing into bed pulling the covers up her chin and snuggling herself down as she drifted off. As she fell asleep, her thoughts were lingering on watching her boyfriend interact with her friends and how much happiness she felt that he had been accepted by them, a smile on her lips.

….

The sound of an alarm rung through her room as Rachel groaned rolling over in the comfort of her large double bed. As she pushed back the covers from over her heard, raising her hand to her face and wiped the sleep from her eyes, blinking a few times as they adjusted to the sunlight that was peeking through the curtains in her room. It was just past nine o'clock, and Rachel smiled as the memories of the night before came into her mind. Flashes of people talking around a couch and living room table; she was sat on her boyfriend's lap as he got to know her friends. She bit her lip as she remembered kissing James as they arrived home.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of two male voices singing downstairs in her house. Smiling as she rolled out of bed, grabbing her silk robe from the chair near her desk pulling it on as she opened her door and headed downstairs to find out what was going on. She recognized her Dad LeRoy singing but the other voice didn't sound like her Daddy. As she headed into the kitchen she saw a sight that made her face split into a huge grin; her dad was stood singing with James as her boyfriend was cooking something in a pan.

Rachel stood there for a few minutes as they finished singing, neither of them having realised that she was watching. As the song came to an end, she smiled as James raised his hand and LeRoy gave him a high five. Giggling at the sight, the two of them turned around; James was looking at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Morning beautiful" He muttered, pointing to the pan he was cooking something in. Her dad was stood leaning against the counter smiling. "I thought that I would make you some breakfast"

"It smells really, really good sweetie" Leroy said, pointing at her boyfriend. "Where did you say you got the recipe again James?"

"My mom" He said smirking as he shrugged his shoulder.

"I didn't know you could cook" She said walking over and kissing her Dad's cheek before hugging James, leaning into his side as she smelled what he was cooking. It did smell delicious and once again Rachel thanked his mom's Italian side of the family for his genes. "But it smells amazing"

"Oh, I can cook alright" He replied kissing her once on the lips, Rachel licking her bottom lip as he pulled away and touched his nose to hers. "It's an omelette, with all the toppings perfect for a growing young diva"

"Thank you baby" Rachel giggled, tilting her head to kiss his cheek. "Where's Daddy?"

"He's headed to work for a few hours" Leroy said, kissing her forehead before stepping away. "Speaking of which, I have to do a bit of work in my office. I'll leave you two to it. Thank you for breakfast this morning, Son, it was delicious"

"No worries Mr Berry" James replied, smiling as her dad winked at her heading out the kitchen and upstairs.

"You made my Dad's breakfast?" Rachel asked, biting her lip. He really was amazing with how he treated her Dad's, they loved him completely. She couldn't help but proud of James for working so hard to integrate himself into her friendship group as well as with her dads.

"They've been so great letting me stay here these past few days" James said, as he reached out and tipped the omelette he had made onto a plate and she followed him over to the breakfast counter; settling down to eat her breakfast. "I wanted to do something nice for them, not just for that but also for extending your curfew. Last night was amazing"

"I Know" She smiled, taking a forkful of her breakfast into her mouth as James sat across from her with a smirk on her face. As she swallowed, her eyes widened and she looked down from the plate to James and back again. "Oh my god this is amazing"

James shrugged a small smile on his face as he sat gazing at her, and she rolled her eyes. While he was trying to pretend to be modest she knew he was eating up the fact she enjoyed his cooking. Shaking her head as she took another mouthful she spoke; "So you had fun last night?"

"You bet, babe" He replied leaning on his hand as he rested his elbow on the table gazing at her. Winking at her, he continued; "Particularly the bits where we were alone"

Feeling her cheeks blush, Rachel bowed her head for a moment, glad that her Dad had left them alone; while her dads knew about the two of them kissing, they didn't know explicit it could get when the two of them were alone. Raising her eyes to meet his gaze, she bit her lip; "Me too"

"So, what do you want to do today?" He asked a few minutes later as she had finished eating and was drinking a glass of orange juice.

Licking her lips, she observed him for a moment; while he was smiling at her widely, there was a slight amount of sadness in his eyes. Rachel frowned for a moment thinking what could make him seem upset, when it to her; this was his last full day in Lima. On Sunday afternoon he was flying home to Oregon. The last couple of days had been amazing spending time with him in her home, it was comfortable and felt completely right to be around him so much.

"I want to spend the day with you" She replied softly, moving her hands to link her fingers with his on the table top. That was honestly what she wanted to happen; just the two of them cuddled up together on the couch or in her bed watching a musical marathon. "We could watch some movies and eat popcorn…unless you want to do anything, I mean we haven't been everywhere in Lima yet and its your last full day here…"

"Movies and you, well mainly just spending time with you sounds perfect" He said as she started to trail off. Smiling, she saw him staring at her with a sparkle in his eyes. "I came to Ohio to see you, and that's exactly how we should spend the day; unless your Dads want to join us but I'd rather we just cuddle up"

"I like that" Rachel grinned, leaning forward and kissing him on the lips. As she jumped up, he laughed at her, and she wore a wide smile as she started to walk out of the kitchen "I'll run to the shop and get some popcorn"

"Wait…you might want to get dressed first" James replied, chuckling as he walked over to her, he pulled her robe fully open as it had begun to unravel at her quick movements placing his hands on her waist and pulled him close to her. Linking her hands behind his head, she watched him as he eyed her pyjamas. In summer, she wore a pink tank top and white shorts. She smirked as his eyes darted up to her lips, and he subconsciously licked his own, before meeting her gaze.

"Like what you see?" She said softly, a small seductive voice rising from her throat that made a shiver run down her spine as he gulped.

"I've told you before…"He said before his voice broke. He gazed at her with such intensity she felt heat rising in her body and her breathing quicken. "You are so beautiful, it's hard to believe how it's possible"

As the words left his mouth, Rachel felt herself instinctively move to meet his lips. He made her feel incredible, she had always struggled with her self-confidence but not when she was around James. Instead of that normal self-conscious worrying about no-one would ever make her feel special, every moment she spent with him she felt as though there was no other girl in the world. They stood there kissing for several minutes, before she heard movement upstairs in her Dad's office causing her to pull away.

"Go get dressed. I'll go and find a store to get some popcorn" He said, pecking her on the lips once before leading her to the stairs.

"Okay" She replied nodding as she started walking up the stairs, only to turn around and stop him as he opened the door. "Take my car…I trust you not to crash it"

"Thanks" He chuckled, as she pointed to the keys placed on the table they had knocked the picture of the night before. "Now I just have to think of a good excuse why I'm driving a pink car"

"Shut up" She muttered laughing as she waved and sprinted up the stairs.

….

Forty minutes later, and after she had showered and gotten dressed in pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a puppy on, wanting to be comfortable so she could cuddle up against James on her bed. As she made her way out of her room Rachel heard the door close and James singing softly as he walked into the house, giggling she skipped down the stairs, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she headed into the kitchen.

"Hey, I have two different types of popcorn and some of those little chocolate covered candy that you said you loved" He said smiling at her, as she made her way to his side.

"What took you so long?" She asked, tilting her head to observe him as he opened his shopping bag.

"Oh, I ran into Noah at the store. He was refilling his moms liquor cabinet or something….I didn't ask why he has a fake ID" He smirked at her.

"Yeah…probably best not to" She smiled, getting a couple of dishes out of the cupboard as he opened the packets of popcorn. "This is going to be so great"

"Yeah" He replied, kissing her cheek. "Have you picked the films you want to watch?"

"Well, as you can probably guess since you've seen my extensive musical collection, we're going to watch quite a few of them" Rachel spoke grinning, as they carried the bowls up to her room. "But, considering you my guest…and that you did make me the best omelette I've ever had for my breakfast, I'll let you pick a couple of films from my Dad's collection"

"You serious?" He asked as he held her bedroom door open for her. " 'cus he let me have a look at them yesterday when you were in the bath. He's got some I haven't seen in years"

"Of course I mean it" She said nudging his shoulder. "Go and get them, we'll set them out and decide the order"

Over the rest of the morning, and through most of the afternoon the two of them lay on her bed cuddling together as they sang along to the musicals they watched. Rachel leaned into his side with her arm wrapped around his chest as she rested her head on his shoulder. James had stretched out his legs on her bed, and she placed one of them over the top of his making sure she could be as close as possible to him for the last day they had together.

Through the day, after Hiram came home from work, her Dad's popped in to check on them at different parts asking them if they needed anything. If she hadn't been so caught up in enjoying the time with her boyfriend, Rachel might have been embarrassed at the smile each of her Dad's wore at seeing the couple sitting together in the manner they were. They ran through all of her favourite musicals, as well as watching a couple of sci-fi films he had borrowed from her Dad.

Her thoughts couldn't help but dwell on the fact he was leaving the day after, and she tightened her hold on him a little bit before smiling as she felt a kiss press against her forehead. Sighing lightly, she tried to push them back out of her head simply enjoying the sensation of his hand gently caressing her thigh as it rested on top of his legs.

Later that day, by the time the last film was finishing, they had forgotten that's what they were supposed to be doing as she had moved to straddling him as their lips moved against each other's. She moaned at the feeling of his hands resting gently on her lower back just above her bum, his fingers rubbing small circles on the skin where her shirt had ridden up slightly.

A few minutes later and she had moved to kissing and sucking on the skin at his pulse point as he moaned softly, his hands having made that final journey to lying on her bum, which caused something in her to want to see more of him. As her hands started to snake under his shirt; there was a knock on her bedroom door. Suddenly aware of her surroundings and who was in the house with them, the realisation that it was one of her dads caused her to spring off him, tucking her face into his shoulder to hide the signs they had been making out. She heard James laughed softly as a blush flourished across her cheeks.

"Sweetie, James." Leroy voice came from the doorway as it opened. Rachel was peaking from her boyfriend's shoulder trying to hide her swollen lips and blushing cheeks "your daddy has finished dinner if you two are hungry"

"We'll be right down, sir" James answered rubbing her back softly.

As the door closed, Rachel shifted so she was straddling him again and hid her head against his chest.

"That was close" she murmured embarrassedly. She heard him laugh as his chest vibrated up and down, and sat up again to stare at him smiling at the smirk on his face. "Why did you have to be such a good kisser?"

"You say it like its a bad thing" he replied moving to kiss her again, she allowed a few short chaste ones before she pulled back, raising her hands to stroke either side of his neck.

"It is when my dads are in the house" She teased, caressing his neck tenderly and she giggled as her fingers ran over the mark she had made on his neck "That's a little harder to explain"

"What?" He replied confused moving a hand to his neck to feel where she had been kissing before. "You gave me a hickey! Rachel, your dads are going to kill me when they see it. They're going to know we were making out on your bed"

"Drama Queen much?" She teased kissing the hickey on his neck. "Besides I'm pretty sure they think that's what we do when were alone anyway"

"I don't want them to know for sure" James said smiling at her. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't at all upset she had marked him. There was a flash in his eyes as they darted to her neck, and she saw him smirk as he moved to kiss her neck. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you had one too"

"No!" Rachel giggled jumping off him "as much as I love the feel of your lips on my neck, if you start now were going to miss dinner"

James smirked at her climbing off her bed and walking to the mirror where she watched him look at her mark on his neck. After a few seconds he turned and grinned at her mischievously, "That's super-hot babe"

"You have a delicious neck" she said leaning up to kiss him

"What am I supposed to do to cover it?" He said as she turned away to reapply her lip gloss.

"Go put your hoodie on" She said, still smirking as she watched him straighten his shirt in her mirror. Turning he nodded at her before he disappeared across to his room. Taking a final look at her appearance in the mirror, Rachel let out a breath and headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Smiling at her dads who were setting the table, Rachel sat herself down as they waited for James. A couple of minutes later he came jogging down the stairs, and she had to bite her lip to prevent the laugh escaping as she saw his hooded jacket zipped up all the way to his chin hiding the mark she had left on him from their makeout session.

The four of them sat down to dinner, her Dads asking James about his time in Ohio and if he had enjoyed spending time in Akron and both Lima. She listened happily as he told them that he had loved it, and apart from his time spent in New York it had been his favourite vacation that he'd taken in his life. They reminded him that he was more than welcome to come and visit them throughout the year, and that it had been their pleasure to have him; Hiram asked her what they had been doing while he had been at work. Rachel told him about the movie marathon, leaving out the part about the two of them kissing as she saw James blushing. Luckily her Dads as always were interested in listening to their daughter talk, so they didn't catch the two of them looking at each other with smirks and embarrassed looks.

"Would you wait here please, I've got a surprise for you" James had said after he insisted on taking their plates away for them, before he disappeared upstairs. She watched her Dad's look at each other with confused expressions before glancing at her.

"Do you know anything about this sweetheart?" Leroy asked, and she shook her head in response.

"No, he hasn't mentioned anything" She replied, biting her bottom lip. She wondered to herself what his surprise was going to be; or when he even had the chance to buy something for her Dad's when she wasn't around. The only time he had been to the Lima Mall she had been with him.

A few minutes later, they heard footsteps coming back down the stairs and three of them turned to see him carrying two bouquet of flowers and a bag for a bottle of wine. She watched as he winked at her, before settling the bottle of wine down on the table. A smile crossed her face as she watched him hand her Dad's a bouquet of flowers each.

"I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay with you; and for being so fantastic about making me feel so welcome…it was honestly like I've been part of the family and that really means a lot to me" James said, smiling embarrassedly as her Dad's had looks of surprise on their faces.

"Come here James" Hiram exclaimed, placing the flowers down on the table and Rachel giggled as she saw him pull her boyfriend into a huge hug. After a few seconds they separated and Leroy gave him a smaller one; muttering his thanks.

"You're a charming young man, and anytime you want to come visit you're more than welcome" Leroy said, grinning as he clasped the younger man's shoulder tightly.

"Thank you" James replied, and he gazed at her and winked. Rachel gave him two thumbs up, part of her not able to believe how sweet he was. If he couldn't get any deeper into her fathers hearts then surprising them like this was sure to make him their favourite. "There's a bottle of wine there as well for you two, I noticed the other day at dinner what you like to drink…and well its probably best you don't know how I got it but yeah…enjoy"

"That's incredibly sweet of you" Leroy said, as Hiram picked it up and inspected it with a smile. "And your right, its probably best we don't ask"

The four of them laughed, and when he moved his eyes to meet hers they showed a knowing smile as she mouthed; "Noah?". Rachel giggled again when he nodded and smirked at her.

…

After dinner, the four of them settled down to watch TV for a couple of hours with her dads. Rachel sat cuddled up against James on his lap as they settled down on the armchair. Smiling contentedly, she relaxed with her head in the crook of his neck as one of his hands ran through her hair, while his other lay in her lap fingers intertwined in hers. As she sat there with her boyfriend who she cared so much for, it occurred to her that she had never felt happier. The summer had been the greatest experience of her life for a number of reasons, the boy whose lap she sat on was simply one of which. She had spent a month in New York and in a few days she would be starting her senior year surrounded by a group of friends who she loved and who all loved her.

Time seemed to pass too quickly as she sat there surrounded by the three people she cared most about. As it got later, and her Dad's disappeared upstairs to get an early night, Rachel was thankful that she had a bit more alone time with him that night. After they moved to the couch, once again she sat cuddling up close to him, James flicked through the channels trying to find something that they could watch her thoughts were drawn to the fact he was going home to Oregon tomorrow. It had been painful to say goodbye to him in New York, but after spending a couple of weeks apart and three fantastic days together she knew it was going to be harder this time around. Her feelings had certainly gotten stronger during the time he had been in Ohio and it had been the greatest feeling to wake up in the morning and see him sitting across from her at the breakfast counter. She dreaded when she would have to say goodbye again.

"You okay Rachel?" He asked as he settled on Meet the Fockers, looking down at her with a worried look in his eyes.

"I'm okay, just really glad you're here with me" She answered simply, tilting her head to kiss him to silence any questions he might follow up. At this moment she wanted to just enjoy his presence and his arms around her rather than explaining what she was thinking. Thankfully, he was more than willing to participate rather than ask questions and when they pulled apart a few minutes later she settled back into his chest as they watched the film.

Around midnight, she was upstairs towards her room with James and after kissing him goodnight, she closed her bedroom door and sighed deeply. She was distracted by the fact that he would be leaving tomorrow as she ran through her nightly routine. They had talked about it in New York, and she would be going to visit him in Oregon towards the end of September when sectionals would be held for teams in his district. Her birthday was a couple of weeks after that and she knew he would definitely come to visit her for her 18th. After that things got more complicated with it being a further few weeks before the New Directions would compete at sectionals and even longer before she would see him after that. Settling into her bed, she wondered if she would even see him during the last month and first couple of months of the New Year. He had mentioned thanksgiving as a potential visit point, but that seemed to far after the visit before that she didn't know what to think.

Rachel lay in bed wide awake for a good hour, unable to drift off to the sleep that normally came to her so easily. The more she thought about the distance that would be between them, Finn's words came to her about how the distance would be too much and he would find someone closer to home who would give him what he couldn't get from his girlfriend. Shaking her head angrily, she berated herself for thinking about that; just as she had told Finn at the time, James wasn't like that; he cared about her too much for that. Turning over in bed, she lay on her side and focused on the picture she had framed of them in New York. Feeling a smile cross her face, she decided she wanted to be close to him, and for the first time in her life she was going to do something that she didn't care if her Dads were angry at her; she just wanted to be close to James on the last night he was in Ohio for a few months. Throwing back her covers, she tiptoed her way out into the hallway and down past her Dads room to the guest room. Letting out a breath, she opened and closed the door as quietly as possible and made her way into the room. There was a small light shining from under the bathroom door, where he had left the light on and closed the door and she saw him sleeping facing away from it in bed as his chest rose and fell silently. Standing there for a moment she watched him look so peaceful as he slept, a small smile on his lips.

Stepping forward, she nudged his shoulder with a gentle force to try and wake him up. After a few seconds, she heard him groan softly and his eyes opened slowly. Blinking a few times before he sat up in bed turning the lamp on his bedside cabinet on, he looked at her with a confused sleepy expression

"Rachel?" His voice as raspy and rough as the time she had called him early in the morning. "Whats wrong?"

"Hey, nothings wrong" She said, settling down on the edge of the bed. Biting her lip, suddenly feeling nervous, she took a breath and spoke again softly. "I was wondering if I could sleep in here with you"

She saw his eyes widen slightly before he opened his mouth; "Your Dads…"

"We're not going to do anything we shouldn't…I can't sleep and want to be close to you" She explained softly, and she saw him watching her with a thoughtful expression before he nodded.

"Yeah…alright" He replied gently, and threw back the covers as he shifted over in bed and settled back on his side. Smiling, Rachel climbed into bed and turned the lamp off before she pushed herself against his body as his arm pulled the covers back over them as he wrapped it around her body.

A small giggle left her lips, as she felt his head next to hers as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. Turning her head she kissed him on the lips once before biting her lip.

"What's funny?" He asked, and she sat the outline of a smile on his face.

"I've never…spooned with someone before" She replied, moving her hand to pull his closer around her waist. "Well…not under the covers"

"Well…lets hope you Dads don't come in otherwise it'll be the last time we ever get to do this" He replied, nuzzled the side of her neck with his nose as he shifted in bed.

"Does it make you uncomfortable? I can go if…" She said trailing off as he kissed her neck softly. It hadn't occurred to her that he might not want to her…but then again why had he let her get into bed with him.

"Don't even think about moving" He replied, and she giggled again softly.

"Okay" Rachel said, closing her eyes. She felt herself completely at ease as she lay in his bed with his arms wrapped protectively around her body. Sighing, Rachel knew she would always remember this feeling and it would help her get through the months without him; she could just recall how it felt to be held by him in this bed. After a few minutes, as she felt the sleep that had been avoiding her before start to settle over her body, she whispered; "I'm going to miss you"

"Me too" He replied, before he placed a kiss on her cheek and held her closer. Together the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms, and neither of them had ever been as comfortable nor as happy and content.

…


End file.
